Traditionally there are two approaches to thermal comfort studies in the indoor environment. The first approach is to conduct tests in fully controlled climate chambers located in laboratories which help in maintaining desired environmental conditions for the experiments. The alternate/second approach is to place sensors and collect data in a set of homes and offices over a period of time where researchers have virtually no control on the thermal environment. This paper reports on an original approach that combines the advantages of both these methods. In this research thermal comfort studies were conducted in a test house.

The dairy industry is one of the most energy intensive sectors in food processing; mainly concentration and spray drying are responsible for high energy consumption. One overall objective is to significantly reduce the energy consumption. Savings are expected to reach over 60%. Amongst others the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Public Relations publish a subsidy for energy efficient and climate friendly production processes. This program is a good opportunity to the dairy sector in Germany and will lead to increased competitiveness. This presentation focuses on spray dryer plants.

This paper shows positive results for introducing energy conservation measures after analyzing facility data acquired by Energy Management System in an existing middle-sized factory. The factory produces around 400,000 gas meters a year. It achieved 37% CO2 reduction from 2011 to 2014. Since 2011, some simple measures had been implemented such as switch-off of unused lights and air-conditioners for unoccupied areas. To achieve higher energy conservation, reduction of air-conditioning load with no drop in productivity and workplace quality was critical. To design new effective energy conservation measures it was necessary to analyze room condition data and energy usage data.

Buildings located inside oil refineries are a typical example of industrial buildings where designers need to balance life safety and energy efficiency. The three most common hazards that such buildings are subject to are blasts, toxic gasses and flammable gasses. The key to achieving energy efficiency without compromising life safety is to understand the hazards imposed on a certain refinery building and the mitigation measures required. This paper describes how a Vapor Cloud Explosion (VCE) differs from regular explosion and how selecting the right blast damper for the over-pressure and impulse of a specific blast will result in energy savings.