This paper evaluates the indoor environmental conditions of the Decontamination Room in the Sterile Processing Department (SPD) in US Hospitals. Research is scarce on assessing for the indoor conditions in these rooms. This outlines the criteria used for the evaluation process and summarizes the environmental requirements and recommendations related to applicable codes and standards. It provides recommendations for indoor environmental parameters.

Heating and cooling systems in buildings can be divided into three main subsystems: heating/cooling plant, distribution system of the heat transfer medium, and indoor terminal unit. The choice of terminal unit is critical due to its direct effects on thermal indoor environment and system energy use. This paper reports the results of energy and exergy analyses of a single-family house, and an office room, theoretically assuming that they were heated or cooled by an air-based (air heating and cooling) or a water-based system (radiant floor heating and cooling).

In 2013, about 66% of the total energy in China is supplied by coal, 18.4% by petroleum and 5.8% by natural gas. The humidity ratio of the exhaust gas differs according to the type of fuels as the fuel with higher hydrogen content will produce more water vapor during combustion. The latent heat occupies a large proportion of the total exhaust heat and will contribute a lot to energy saving if fully utilized. This paper introduces a system used for waste heat recovery from flue gases with the liquid desiccant serving as circulatory mediator.

This project investigates the potential benefits of combining cooling of London underground train tunnels with the transfer of heat to district heating networks. Instead of using air cooled chillers to cool the air in the underground tunnels, it is planned to use water to water heat pumps to transfer the heat to a district heating network. This should significantly reduce the total energy input required for both the heating and cooling of the respective networks. It has been previously estimated that there is at least 25 MW of waste heat available from cooling the London underground system.

The refrigeration industry plays a major role in today’s global economy, with significant contributions made in food, health, energy and environmental domains which policy makers need to better understand and take into account. The need for engineering and technical staff is currently increasing due to the growing demand for refrigerating capacities, along with the unique skills required of refrigeration-related professions in the field of energy and environment. Women are still significantly and visibly under-represented in the refrigeration industry. This paper demonstrates the current preliminary state-of-the-art of women in the refrigeration field collected from the national refrigeration institutions and associations.