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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

How Can Occupancy Modeling And Occupancy Sensors Reduce Energy Usage In Academic Buildings: An Application Approach To University Of San Francisco, Paloma R. Duong May 2016

How Can Occupancy Modeling And Occupancy Sensors Reduce Energy Usage In Academic Buildings: An Application Approach To University Of San Francisco, Paloma R. Duong

Master's Projects and Capstones

Buildings are amongst the highest energy consumers relative to industry and transportation. They account for 40% of the world’s energy consumption, due to the need for lighting, equipment, heating, cooling and ventilation. Academic buildings are multi-purpose buildings that create a challenge on energy reduction. Most are old and have fixed occupancy schedules, resulting in high energy consumption because these buildings experience significant occupancy variation throughout the day. Five academic buildings were analyzed; their building information, energy consumption data and methods to project energy savings have been analyzed. The case studies presented different strategies on predicting energy savings, but these have …


Potential For Biofuel Production From Algae Based Wastewater Treatment In California: Can Algal Biofuels Be Cost-Competitive With Traditional Petroleum Based Diesel?, Amanda Rupiper May 2016

Potential For Biofuel Production From Algae Based Wastewater Treatment In California: Can Algal Biofuels Be Cost-Competitive With Traditional Petroleum Based Diesel?, Amanda Rupiper

Master's Projects and Capstones

Neither the use of algae to clean wastewater, nor the use of photosynthetic organisms to generate biodiesel, are new concepts on their own. By combining these two processes, algal-based wastewater treatment with algal biofuel production, additional benefits can be derived, among which could be a cost-savings. In California the average estimated base production cost per gallon for algal biodiesel is $5.98/gallon. Compared to the adjusted production cost of petroleum-based diesel of $1.53/gallon, biodiesel is not cost-competitive. Coupling wastewater treatment and algal cultivation reduces the net energy use of the two processes separately and, if accounted for, greatly reduces the production …