Digital Commons Network^™

Achieving ‘Net Zero Energy’ Performance Through Retrofitting Of Residential Buildings In Ireland., M. Alan Costello

Theses

A Net Zero Energy Building (nZEB) is a residential or commercial building that consumes net zero energy over a set period of time, usually taken as one year. In short, for every unit of energy the building consumes over a year, it must generate a unit of energy to maintain an overall net balance. This is achieved by reducing the operational energy usage to a very low level through energy efficient design, and then providing renewable generation technologies on site to cater for the remaining energy demand.

Energy use in all sectors of society is under scrutiny at present, largely …

Perspective-Taking And Willingness To Engage In Intergroup Contact, Cynthia S. Wang, Kenneth Tai, Gillian Ku, Adam D. Galinsky

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The current research explored whether perspective-taking increases willingness to engage in contact with stereotyped outgroup members. Across three studies, we find that perspective-taking increases willingness to engage in contact with negatively-stereotyped targets. In Study 1, perspective-takers sat closer to, whereas stereotype suppressors sat further from, a hooligan compared to control participants. In Study 2, individual differences in perspective-taking tendencies predicted individuals’ willingness to engage in contact with a hooligan, having effects above and beyond those of empathic concern. Finally, Study 3 demonstrated that perspective-taking’s effects on intergroup contact extend to the target’s group (i.e., another homeless man), but not to …

Magnetic Nanoparticles For Thermally Anoparticles Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery, Hazem Elshorbagy Elshorbagy

Theses

A novel method of delivering thermal energy efficiently to reservoirs for heavy oil production is described in this study. The method uses magnetic nanoparticles that generate heat locally when exposed to a high frequency magnetic field oscillation via hysteresis losses. This concept is currently used in medical research to thermally kill cancerous cells. Electromagnetic heating is a n alternative method to heat heavy oil reservoirs without using water or steam. Using magnetic nanoparticles with electromagnetic heating would greatly reduce the energy requirement and would allow efficient propagation of heat into deeper regions beyond wellbore locality that are otherwise difficult to …

The Effectiveness Of Adec's Professional Development For Principals In Al Ain Government Schools, Uae, Wafaa Ai-Ghafri

Theses

This study investigated the extent to which professional development provided by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) helped principals in Al Ain government schools to lead the new five components of change in their schools. The study was guided by three research questions and used the mixed research method. Data were collected through a questionnaire, individual interviews, and focus group interviews. The questionnaire was divided into four sections. The first section included demographic information of participants. The second section included eleven statements addressing the school principals' perceptions towards professional development programs conducted by ADEC. The third section was comprised of …

Perspective-Taking Increases Willingness To Engage In Intergroup Contact, Cynthia Wang, Kenneth Tai, Gillian Ku, Adam D. Galinsky

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Duplicate record, see https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/3631/. The current research explored whether perspective-taking increases willingness to engage in contact with stereotyped outgroup members. Across three studies, we find that perspective-taking increases willingness to engage in contact with negatively-stereotyped targets. In Study 1, perspective-takers sat closer to, whereas stereotype suppressors sat further from, a hooligan compared to control participants. In Study 2, individual differences in perspective-taking tendencies predicted individuals’ willingness to engage in contact with a hooligan, having effects above and beyond those of empathic concern. Finally, Study 3 demonstrated that perspective-taking’s effects on intergroup contact extend to the target’s group (i.e., another …

Negotiating Crisis In The Social Media Environment: Evolution Of Crises Online, Gaining Credibility Offline, A. Pang, Nasrath Begam Binte Abul Hassan, Aaron Chee Yang Chong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Purpose– The aim of this paper is to examine how crises can be triggered online, how different social media tools escalate crises, and how issues gain credibility when they transit to mainstream media.Design/methodology/approach– This exploratory study uses the multiple case study method to analyze five crises, generated online, throughout their life-cycles, in order to build analytic generalizations (Yin).Findings– Crises are often triggered online when stakeholders are empowered by social media platforms to air their grievances. YouTube and Twitter have been used to raise issues through its large user base and the lack of gatekeeping. Facebook and blogs escalate crises beyond …

A Decision Making Tool For Sustainable Design In Construction, Enda Collins

Theses

This report defines sustainability and sustainable development before any research is carried out. This is necessary so that the research carried out further in the report makes sense and there is a reason for including such items in this report. The need for this project and what the project aims to achieve is also highlighted in the introduction of this report.

Sustainability is made up of three equal parts; social, economic and environmental. This report goes through each item and gives examples of each type of development. Having discussed sustainability in a broad sense the report then focuses on Legislation …

A Novel Waveform For Emergency Services Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks : The Link Layer Perspective, Sebastian Helmle

Theses

Existing wireless communication systems of emergency services mainly enable ordinary unicast or broadcast voice communications. The increasing demand for data services such as messaging, file transfer, maps, etc requires those long-range communication systems to provide higher data rates while maintaining robustness against link failures. In this thesis, various aspects of a link layer design specifically for narrowband mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) that are targeted at emergency services are investigated.

The major aspect of this thesis is the optimisation of a time division multiple access (TDMA) design considering both efficient and reliable multicast resource reservation. An approach to mathematically describe a …

An Investigation And Evaluation Of The Proposed Harbour Development In Bantry Bay, Cork, Shane O'Flynn

Theses

RPS Group was appointed by Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners to develop a master plan for a waterfront development in Bantry Bay Inner Harbour. It has been proposed that the inner harbour be dredged to a sufficient water depth to allow the entrance of marine craft. The purpose of the thesis is to evaluate and discuss the decisions regarding the environmental impacts that a harbour development would have on Bantry Bay. This research investigates the feasibility of alternative dredge treatment processes used in the Bantry Bay Inner Harbour Development. This research investigates the possibility of reusing the dredge material on site, …

Impact Of Run-Off Coefficients On Urban Drainage Design, Ross O'Sullivan

Theses

This study assesses the impacts that runoff coefficients have on an urban drainage design. The first part of the report reviews how drainage design is carried out. This assesses the traditional hand calculations method, where eharts and graphs are used, versus the more modem approach of using a computer modelling system such as WinDes. Both approaches were reviewed, as both will be used to design drainage systems at a further stage in the project. The objective of this projeet is to see how runoff eoefficients impact on urban drainage design. The methodology used to determine this, is to test six …

Classification Of Irish Beaches, Johnjoe O'Sullivan

Theses

This project aims to develop a beach classification model that has been validated for use on Irish beaches. Beach classification models have been developed over the past six decades as a means of identifying the sedimentological, morphological and hydrodynamic beach features that are present on beaches. Beach classification models have been pioneered by researchers for beaches in Australia and have been subject to continuous development through the monitoring and research of beaches along the Australian coastline. Recently a similar model been developed for England and Wales based on data collected from beaches along the coastline. This report will investigate the …

Location Management And Hybrid Geo-Routing For Urban Vehicular Networks, Aisling O'Driscoll

Theses

In recent years the motivation for comfort applications e.g. infotainment, file exchange and vehicle to vehicle (V2V) multiplayer gaming amongst others, has emerged as an active area of vehicular communications and network research. The success of such applications relies on the ability of a geo-routing protocol to deliver communication packets in a frequently disconnected communication environment. To do this, the location of the destination vehicle must first be determined and secondly, must reliably deliver the packet from source to destination. To determine the location of a target vehicle towards which packets can be forwarded, geo-routing algorithms utilise a location service …

A Technical And Economic Appraisal Of Insulation Retrofits, Niamh O'Brien

Theses

The main aim of this literature review is to further develop the project brief and to examine what research has previously been undertaken in the field of thermal conductivity and retrofitting insulation. The basis of this project is to determine the effect of moisture in domestic cavity walls on the effectiveness of retrofitted insulation. The research began by highlighting the reasoning behind the need for insulation within domestic dwellings within Ireland and the guiding legislation in place in relation to this. Carrying on from this, the current methods used to retrofit insulation were examined, along with the types of insulation …