Based on a framework proposed by Battese and Coelli (1995), we estimated the stochastic frontier production function for four Chinese industries: building materials, chemicals, machinery and textiles during 1990–1994. The type of technological change is tested and total factor productivity (TFP) growth is calculated for each industry. We found no evidence of technological change in the building...

Extended Abstract Thermal non-destructive testing is more and more applied even in the field of cultural heritage conservation. The main reason is the capability of inspecting large surfaces without any contact or damage. A large number of testing procedures and processing algorithms allows reaching reliable results both in laboratory or in situ. Well established or innovative techniques are ba...

Possibilities for harmonising controls on the radioactivity of building materials within the European Union are being discussed in a Working Party on Natural Radiation Sources established by the Article 31 Group of Experts (Euratom Treaty). The Working Party is preparing a document to aid the Article 31 Expert Group and the European Commission in considering possible recommendations and technic...

To obtain realistic models for propagation channels in future picocellular indoor terahertz communication systems it is necessary to know the reflective properties of building materials found in a typical office environment. The angular dependent reflection coefficients of different building materials were determined using terahertz timedomain spectroscopy in transmission geometry and Fresnel’s...

Photocatalysis has recently become a common word and various products using photocatalytic functions have been commercialized. Among many candidates for photocatalysts, TiO2 is almost the only material suitable for industrial use at present and also probably in the future. This is because TiO2 has the most efficient photoactivity, the highest stability and the lowest cost. More significantly, i...

In the present age the waste generated from industriesis the huge concern for the environment, health, and cause for land filling. Recycling of such wastes and using them in construction materials appears to be viable solution not only to the pollution problem but also an economical option in construction. In view of utilization of industrial waste in construction material, the present paper re...

Searching for materials to provide proper housing with less emission and low energy becomes an urgent demand with the ever-growing population. Bamboo has gained a reputation as an ecofriendly, highly renewable source of material. Parallel Strand Bamboo (PSB) is a new biocomposite made of bamboo strips which has superiority performances than wood products. It has attracted considerable interests...

Sorption data obtained by using small environmental chambers under different environmental conditions (air temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity) have been used to evaluate the linear Langmuir model and the diffusion model for VOC sorption by different building materials. The two models were evaluated (1) by the goodness of model curve-fitting to the experimental data according to th...

Problem statement: Uranium is a radiotoxic element found in trace quantities in alomost all natural accurring materials like soil, rock. Radon an inert radioactive gas whose predecessor in uranium, is emitted from soil beneath the house and from building materials. Accurate knowledge of exhalation rate plays an important role in characterization of the radon source strength in some building mat...

The selection and configuration of building materials for optimal energy efficiency in a building require some assumptions and models for the thermal behavior of the utilized materials. Although the models for many materials can be considered acceptable for simulation and calculation purposes, the work for modeling the real time behavior of phase change materials is still under development. The...