No abstract

This study is aimed to evaluate the efficiency of biochar and crude glycerin as additives in N retention throughout the composting of cattle slaughterhouse waste in static piles receiving forced aeration. There were five treatments (control, biochar accounting for 5 and 10%, and glycerin accounting for 5 and 10%, both at total solids) and four times (20, 50, 70 and 90 days of composting). The slaughterhouse waste was composted with a bulking agent at a ratio of 3:1, and the mixtures of waste and the tested additives were placed in nylon bags. The piles reached thermophilic temperatures soon after the process started and following turnings. The reductions of volatile solids, carbon, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin were not influenced by the additives, resulting in averages of 69.1, 67.1, 62.1, 51.6 and 35.3%, respectively. The control showed greater N losses (58.38%), compared to the treatments with additives. The inclusions of biochar yielded an average loss of 48.47% N, while 10% of glycerin resulted in the lowest N losses (44.83%). The use of biochar and glycerin as additives in the composting of slaughterhouse waste is recommended in order to decrease N losses and improve the concentration of nutrients, without compromising the biodegradation of organic components.

The co-digestion of swine manure with vegetable waste is an alternative that can increase the production of biogas and methane generated by the isolated digestion of manure. However, recommendations that are based on the best ratio between manure and forage, as well as the age of harvest, are still scarce in the literature. This study was conducted to evaluate inclusions (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) of the total solids (TS) of Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum) harvested at two ages medium age (MA) at 45 days of growth and advanced age (AA) at 90 days in co-digestion with swine manure, using an entirely randomized design in a 5x2 factorial scheme. Batch digesters were used and biogas production was monitored for 12 weeks. There was influence of forage age (P <0.05) on the degradation of solids and neutral detergent fiber, with higher values for the substrates containing MA forage. The highest CH4 yields were obtained by the substrates containing MA forage in the inclusion of 27.7 and 31.6%, being 253.7 and 222.2 L of CH4 per Kg of total or volatile solids. The age of the forages influenced the onset and persistence of biogas production, being advantageous only in the inclusion of 25% of MA forage. The AA forage inclusion is not recommended for co-digestion with swine manure.

This study aims to characterize the waste of weaned piglets and estimate the emissions of N2O in kg of CO2 eq/kg of weight gain in the first week of housing. Primary data were obtained in the first week after weaning of piglets to identify how much waste from this animal category may affect the environment. The life cycle assessment was applied to verify the amount of manure and the emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) considering the weight gain (WG) of piglets in the first post-weaning week. Eight waste collections were carried out in two lots representing an average of 8,099 animals with initial and final weight of 5.01 and 5.84 kg, respectively. The production of residues was 0.128 kg of dry matter (DM) for each kilogram of WG produced. This waste production has an emission capacity of approximately 4x10-4 kg N2O/kg WG in the first post-weaning week. Considering that N2O has a global warming potential almost 300 times higher in retaining heat than CO2, each 1 kg of piglet produced can emit about 0.129 kg of CO2 equivalent from the N2O produced. According to the number of piglets evaluated in this study, the total emission can reach 1.85 tons of CO2 equivalent in the first post-weaning week alone.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of forced aeration and season on hatchery waste composting in static windrows with perforated walls. there were three well-defined thermophilic phases during composting, with the first occurring immediately after the formation of the windrows and the others occurring after turnovers at 50 and 70 days of composting. Aeration resulted in greater degradation (p<0.01) of volatile solids (VS), carbon (C), and lignin in the composting windrows during the summer up to 50 days of process, in comparison to no aeration piles. However, at 70 and 90 days of composting, the results were similar between aerated and nonaerated windrows. The greatest (p<0.01) degradation of nitrogen (N) occurred during the winter and in the absence of aeration (55.25%). Season influenced (p<0.05) the concentrations of humic acids, and they were higher in the compost generated during the summer than generated during the winter. The concentrations of Mg, Fe and Na were influenced by the season, with higher values (p<0.01) in the summer, however they were not affected by aeration. In the winter, aeration is recommended after 50 days of composting, whereas in summer, forced aeration is beneficial for N conservation and humic acid formation.

Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar uma sistemática para avaliação de coberturas verdes (CV), utilizando o método de análise financeira TIR-taxa interna de retorno (IRR-internal rate of return), referenciado pela astm e1185-07 e e1057-06. A proposição, porém, apresenta elementos pouco abordados nas pesquisas nacionais, considerando além dos custos de projetos e execução, também: os custos de manutenção do sistema; a economia de energia proporcionada pela melhoria da eficiência energética do edifício com cobertura verde, obtida através de simulação energética de edificações comerciais; além do valor agregado ao empreendimento com o item de sustentabilidade. São igualmente elencados os fatores que mais condicionam os resultados da aplicação desse sistema no edifício, adotando como base os requisitos estabelecidos pela iso 6241. Para examinar as reais implicações dos custos iniciais, de manutenção e reposição da cv, propõe-se uma análise de viabilidade comparativa com outro sistema que gere benefícios similares à cv, como a cobertura com isolamento térmico. O crescente uso dessa tecnologia passiva, vem sendo estimulado pela difusão das certificações ambientais, com isso, devem-se ampliar os estudos mais aprofundados, tanto sobre a eficiência do sistema construtivo, quanto a respeito da viabilidade financeira, para que a sua aplicação seja de fato sustentável. Não há dúvida de que o sistema de cobertura verde pode ajudar a conter e reverter o declínio ambiental das cidades, fato comprovado pelos estudos científicos já desenvolvidos, sobretudo nos continentes europeu e norteamericano. Pesquisas pontuais em regiões de clima tropical constatam que os custos do ciclo de vida da cv extensiva com ou sem consideração dos custos de energia, são mais baixos do que a laje exposta, apesar de seu custo inicial ser maior. No Brasil, porém, os estudos ainda apresentam uma abordagem superficial quanto à análise de viabilidade de custo. Palavras-chave: telhado verde, desempenho térmico, método de avaliação, análise de custos.

A sustainable operation of buildings requires a continuous monitoring of various aspects, during its life cycle. Since lighting and airconditioning systems consume a significant amount of energy in buildings, maintain energy efficiency, as well as an acceptable indoor environmental quality, is a major challenge. Information is essential for the identification of systems failures, variables that are not compatible with standards and legislation and unwanted consumption patterns, allowing the definition of appropriate strategies of system operation. The use of sensor networks allows you to monitor, continuously, different parameters related to indoor air quality, thermal and visual comfort, and energy consumption, providing a considerable amount of data. These data need to be processed, analyzed and made available through friendly interfaces in order to provide useful information to the managers of the building. In this scenario, the Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence can be significant allies in the decision-making process to meet the needs of these users in the taking of preventive or corrective actions, aiming at sustainable building operation. The aim of this study was to apply a Business Intelligence tool to a database, containing information on the history of CO2 concentrations in two classrooms with separate central air conditioning systems, located in the Polytechnic School of USP. Data analysis allowed identifying the number of records and concentrations in accordance with the relevant standards for each environment, throughout the period evaluated. The results show the performance differences between the two systems of air conditioning against CO2 concentrations, providing important benefits to several people interested in your needs and specific decisions, but all with a common goal: the proper operation of air conditioning systems, thus providing better environmental conditions to its users.

Continuous monitoring and analysis of several variables using sensor networks and business intelligence as a support for green data centers ABSTRACT Data Centers are large energy consumers in the areas of Information and Communications Technology, where it is estimated that the equivalent of one-third of the energy consumption of the servers is spent on cooling systems to control the temperature of the equipment. In addition, airconditioning systems are essential to maintain proper thermal conditions, avoiding significant losses, besides keeping an homogeneous air distribution with energy efficiency. In order to evaluate their performance, it becomes demanding to continuously monitor certain variables, generating a historical basis that provides data analysis, identifying the environmental quality, the efficiency and the system operation pattern. Aiming this solution, here is proposed the development of an environmental and power consumption data analysis module in Data Centers, using Business Intelligence features, providing support to managers in the definition of strategies for sustainable operation of airconditioning systems. This module should be integrated into the system for secure and remote monitoring of the indoor environmental quality, operating since 2009 at Engineering School of University of São Paulo. It continuously monitors temperature, relative humidity, energy quality and consumption of the fan coils and chiller, in two airconditioned classrooms. This information is stored on a web server, generating history data and enabling remote access of users through an interface containing numerous features. The existing database will be used in the testing and validation of the proposed module that, integrated into the monitoring system, will bring benefit through reports and analytic charts. Data Center managers will be able to perform a quality control of the indoor environment with greater accuracy, adopting strategies of sustainable operation, facilitating risk identification and decreasing the possibility of accidents and maintenance costs. This solution will be fully aligned to the concept of Green Data Centers.