A geothermal direct-use project utilizes a natural resource, a flow of geothermal fluid at elevated temperatures, which is capable of providing heat and/or cooling to buildings, greenhouses, aquaculture ponds, and industrial processes. Geothermal utilization requires matching the varied needs of the user and characteristics of the resource in order to development a successful project. Each appl...

Radon (222Rn) is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that originates from the decay of radium (226Ra) in the primordial uranium (238U) decay series. As a noble gas, it easily migrates through inter-granular spaces; then, because of advection, diffusion and convection with other gasses or with water, it moves through fi ssures and faults until it reaches the outdoor atmosphere. Its half-life i...

This paper presents the results of a two-year trans-disciplinary research project investigating opportunities and limitations of the Swiss 2000-Watt/1-ton CO2 society vision for the transformation of industrial sites into liveable neighbourhoods. By involving local stakeholders we elaborated four plausible scenarios for the transformation of an industrial area in the city of Zug, Switzerland. B...

Homes, buildings and industrial facilities together represent nearly 100 % of the load on the electric grid. Beyond load, these facilities comprise a significant amount of electricity generation and thermal storage. These customer-owned load, storage and generation resources must be made responsive to needs of the electric grid in order to enable the Smart Grid. At issue is the best way to acco...

This paper refers to the present state of historical buildings situated in the Karviná and Ostrava region and also to the problems of these buildings caused first of all by surface vibrations generated by mining-induced seismicity in the Karviná region and by technical seismicity caused by industrial activities and transportation in the Ostrava region. Designing of earthquake-resistant structur...