Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 431

Abstract: The objective of this research was to determine the global warming potential (GWP) of office furniture in Thailand. The life cycle of product was carried out from a gate-to-gate perspective according to life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, using global warming potential as the selected impact category. According to the results, the environmental impact of global warming is the seat backrest; seat frame and seat recline, respectively. To improve the production of seat frame, the piece that the environmental impacts of global warming as much as possible can help reduce the impact on the environment caused by the release of toxins into the air decreases..

Abstract: The life cycle inventory for the production of building materials made in Brazil do not follow standardizations regarding the choice and representation of data and are not eligible for other exchanges between Brazilian and European inventories. For this study inventories Brazilian and European production of ceramic bricks were analyzed on the basis of quality indicators recommended by ISO14040. The results confirmed that Brazilian studies show a high level of uncertainty and are incompatible with international inventories.

Abstract: In this paper, a regionally disaggregated global energy system model treating the electricity supply sector in detail is used to examine the competitiveness of wave energy technologies for each of 48 world regions over the period to 2050 under a constraint of halving global energy-related CO₂ emissions in 2050 compared to the 2000 level. It is first found that wave energy continues to be uncompetitive until 2050 due to (1) its high cost and (2) the large seasonal variability of wave power. Even if the reference wave electricity generation costs are assumed to be reduced by 90%, the latter factor severely limits the market penetration of wave energy technologies. It is then found that the UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, the western US, Latin America, Canada, and Spain and Portugal are the regions promising for wave energy deployment. Not only low-cost and abundant wave energy resources, but also the peak electric load in winter, the relatively small seasonal variability of wave power, and/or the low competitiveness of power sources substitutable by wave energy are the reasons for this.

Abstract: According to the characteristics of construction project, it set the third level of duration implicit cost, deepening the understanding of the duration implicit cost in construction project. Through analyzing the similar characteristics of the technique of project network diagram and neural network, it built a duration implicit cost control model based on neural network, which can adjust the project network diagram to the optimization direction. Aiming at the defects of the traditional neural network, the variable learning rate back-propagation arithmetic and the additional momentum method were introduced, and the duration implicit cost control model was built, improving the accuracy of the control for the neural network technique.

Abstract: Brazilians construction industry is facing a growth panorama. Given this, discussions on environmental suitability of the sector become relevant, since it is recognized as the most important sector for achieving more sustainable patterns of development. The life cycle assessment (LCA) has been considered one of the most appropriate methodologies for the analysis of interactions between products and services of construction industry and the environment and it has been used with numerous goals and different methodological referrals. In Brazil the main limitation related to the use of LCA is the lack of databases for the specific regional reality, which is related with life cycle inventories, part of LCA process. This article aims to compare different LCA studies that addressed the life cycle of ceramic bricks, an intensive used component in Brazilians buildings. The focus defined is the LCI of production phase, identifying possible differences in modeling processes and in inputs and outputs. The results pointed out to homogeneity in process description and to a lack of correspondence of inputs and outputs with functional units adopted.