Introduction Retrofitting our current building stock and urban infrastructure is a vital part of meeting emissions reductions targets, using energy and resources in a more efficient way and creating sustainable lifestyles. However, one of the key barriers identified is a lack of appropriate modelling and decision support tools to aid long-term planning for sustainable urban retrofitting. In thi...

Many existing reinforced concrete structures were constructed with substandard characteristics. Low quality concrete, poor transverse reinforcement details and insufficient flexural strength are among the most common deficiencies. While substandard structures are in need of retrofitting, particularly in seismic areas, problems such as high costs and disturbance to occupants are major obstacles ...

The paper presents a plastic analysis procedure based on the energy balance concept for performance based seismic retrofit of multi-story multi-bay masonry infilled reinforced concrete (R/C) frames with a ‘soft’ ground story using passive energy dissipation (PED) devices with the objective of achieving a target performance level of the retrofitted R/C frame for a given seismic hazard level at t...

Seismic resiliency of new buildings has improved over the years due to improved seismic codes and design practices. However, vulnerability of seismically deficient older buildings, designed and built on the basis of older codes of practice, poses a significant threat to life safety and survivability of buildings. It is economically not feasible to retrofit the entire seismically deficient infra...

The sealing of rotating equipment has always presented a special challenge for rotating equipment manufacturers and end users. Shaft seals are provided to restrict or prevent the escape of process or sealing fluids to atmosphere. They are required to comply with environmental regulations, prevent monetary losses, and for personnel safety. Dry gas seal technology has demonstrated reliability and...

An ordinary steam turbine retrofit project is selected as a case study; through the retrofit, the project activities will generate emission reductions within the power grid for about 92,463 tCO(2)e per annum. The internal rate of return (IRR) of the project is only -0.41% without the revenue of carbon credits, for example, CERs, which is much lower than the benchmark value of 8%. Only when the ...

A three-year research project explored the evolving level of “building expertise” for low-carbon housing refurbishment in the UK and France. With a focus on “middle actors” and the evolution of professional practice, this paper reports on “middle-out” responses from the housing retrofit supply chain to top-down policies promoting low-energy retrofits of existing homes. The two countries have co...

Maintaining the functionality, productivity, and safety of communities necessitates the seismic reliability of lifeline infrastructure networks. However, assessing the reliability of an infrastructure network is a nontrivial task due to the variability of ground motion and the complexity of the response of the network resulting from that ground motion. Even more challenging is the task of ident...

This paper presents a generic and systematic methodology for the generation of sustainable process alternatives with respect to new process design as well as retrofit design. The generated process alternatives are evaluated through sustainability metrics, environmental impact factors as well as inherent safety indices. The process alternatives for new process design as well as retrofit design a...

1. ABSTRACT Devices which can add damping and strengthen structural systems, without changes to the existing components, were found recently extremely useful in retrofitting lightly reinforced frames and other structures. Some damping devices were developed purposely for building structures, however, many more were adapted from use in other industries such as the military and aerospace. Damping...