The Drexel Smart House is a unique multidisciplinary project working toward the goal of creating a building that functions like a home and serves as a laboratory to continually conduct research on innovations to the home experience. Through student-led (undergraduate and graduate from all colleges and majors) research and design, the Drexel Smart House will explore the areas of health and wellness, environmental interactions, efficiency, entertainment and communications. Ultimately, this research and design will be implemented into an urban home where involved students will live, thereby studying the effectiveness of the new ideas and proving the benefit of the Smart House.

See: Drexel Smart House
Blog: Drexel Smart House Blog

Books

Click on the links below to see what books are available in the Hagerty library at Drexel University in some key areas.

Smart Structures
Smart Materials
Intelligent Buildings
Green Buildings
Energy and homes
smart Home

To find additional books, search in our online catalog using Advanced Keyword Searching and using appropriate research keywords.

See also: Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Senior Seminar, Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Senior Design Resources and How Do I access ASTM, SAE, ASHRAE, ISO or ANSI standards? Any other standards?

Statistical Resources

Statistical Resources
Statistical Resources on the Web – Energy

Grant and Funding Opportunities

• NSF Fastlane Award Search and Funding Trends
  FastLane covers the full range of transactions between a research organization, its researchers, and NSF. See also Grant Proposal Guide.

• Community of Science (CoS) Scholar Universe
  A database for researchers which includes an expertise directory, funding opportunities, MEDLINE and the Federal Register.
• What is Community of Science (COS) Scholar Universe? How can I find out where I can present my papers?
• How do I locate funding opportunities for research or travel grants to assist me in planning for participating in conferences?
• CoS Expertise
  Detailed professional information about nearly 480,000 scientists, scholars and researchers.
• CoS Funding Opportunities
  A searchable and browsable database of funding information.
• Databases/Indexes for Funding
  See also Research Guides for Grants and Prospect Research
• Encyclopedia of Associations Online
  Contains information for approximately 460,000 international and U.S. national, regional, state, and local nonprofit membership organizations in all fields, including IRS data on U.S. 501(c) nonprofit organizations.

Author: Jenna Cellini, University of Pennsylvania

This thesis seeks to explore the development of a building material with regards to its durability and production. It does so in the examination of the advances in material understanding and technique with regards to a unique twentieth century material – precast exposed aggregate concrete. Tested, refined and later patented by craftsman John J. Earley, the precise process of creating exposed aggregate concrete cladding (today known as the MoSai technique) holds unique implications for its preservation. Analyzing what Earley – and those who helped refine the MoSai process over the years – understood with regards to the material’s properties will determine whether the material’s evolved production has preservation implications inherent to the process. The way in which Earley approached perfecting precast exposed aggregate concrete paneling will also assert his place in architectural history beyond the development of a durable, permanent material; his Earley Process has had lasting influences on today’s standards and production – separating today’s materials from their traditional predecessors and thus, potentially affecting how preservationists view all modern materials as they ready themselves for the future of their work.

Full text avilable The ScholarlyCommons: Repository is a collection of the scholarly output of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania at The Development of Precast Exposed Aggregate Concrete Cladding:

Scitopia.org is a free federated vertical search that lets you explore the research most cited in scholarly work and patents in a single click.

It was created through the imagination and collaboration of 21 leading science and technology societies.

Societies include: American Geophysical Union (AGU), American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Institute of Physics (AIP), American Physical Society (APS), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), The Electrochemical Society (ECS), IEEE, Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP), Optical Society of America (OSA), SPIE, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).

See also Sci-Tech Societies Unite to Create Scitopia.org Search Portal

Wind, Solar Could Play Bigger Roles in Future US Energy Mix

“U.S. climate change legislation now before Congress would mandate that by 2020, 15 to 20 percent of the nation’s electricity supply would come from renewable sources like wind and solar.

Currently wind and solar contribute only about 2 percent, with hydropower providing an additional 6 percent.

The new report examines the potential of wind and solar electricity in the United States
Can these renewable sources meet the nation’s energy needs? A new report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change finds that wind and solar can be a major source of electricity in the United States.”

Please read the whole artilcle at:

Wind, Solar Could Play Bigger Roles in Future US Energy Mix

The High Performance Buildings Database is research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that seeks to improve building performance measuring methods by collecting data on various factors that affect a building’s performance, such as energy, materials, and land use. The database collects information from buildings around the world, ranging from homes and commercial interiors to large buildings and even whole campuses and neighborhoods.

Access: High Performance Buildings Database from U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

The senior design team of Eric Eisele, Courtney Reid, Dan Pugh, Sarah Byrnes, and Charlie Woods was awarded a Phase II People, Prosperity, and Planet Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  See Senior Design Team wins EPA funding for more details.

Eric and his team used several Library resources over a period of time.  These include:

• ASCE Civil Engineering Database
• ASCE Conference Proceedings Online
• BuildingGreen – (BuildingGreen Suite integrates online versions of GreenSpec, Environmental Building News, and a database of more than 160 high-performance building case studies.)
• DoE Energy Codes
• Ei Compendex and INSPEC
• Environmental Engineering Abstracts
• Google Scholar
• Home Depot Smart Home
• Knovel: Engineering and Scientific Online References
• MAD CAD – (NOTE: access to cross-referenced collections of building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire, and maintenance codes from BOCA, SBCCI, ICBO, ICC, and NFPA.)
• ScienceDirect
• Statistical Resources
• Statistical Resources on the Web-Energy
• Web of Knowledge

Eric also needed some ASTM standards for the Solar Coating project. Using How Do I access ASTM, SAE, ASHRAE, ISO or ANSI standards? Any other standards? Eric was able to obtain ASTM standards that he needed for the project. Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering and Materials Engineering Site include a few resources that may also help in future for other projects. See also Cool Roofs and Cool Roofing Materials Database available from Heat Island Group Resources.

Eric also contributed in creating  Drexel’s web site for Sustainability and Drexel Green.

Congratulations to the Senior Design Team!

Scirus is a comprehensive science and engineering specific search engine that searches open-access websites as well as peer-reviewed content from publisher sites.  With over 450 million scientific items indexed at last count, it allows researchers to search for not only journal content but also scientists’ homepages, courseware, pre-print server material, patents and institutional repository and website information.

Scirus is also linked from Databases/Article indexes for Engineering or it can be found by searching on our Library’s online catalog in the ‘Title’ field.

To link to Drexel full text from Scirus, first add Drexel University in the Library Partner Links within Scirus Preferences

Thomas Fuller, SF Environmental Policy Examiner, analyzed nanotechnology patents using ‘Advanced Search’ feature in scirus.   He found records of 8,007 patent filings for nanotechnology.  According to Fuller, “Of those 8,007 patents that have nanotechnology in the title, abstract or text, 7,007 were filed in the past 5 years.  That’s 88%. Almost a quarter–23%–were filed last year alone. That’s one reason why I think nanotechnology will be to this century what electricity was to the last.” He also writes, “the recovery of the American economy and progress to unprecedented heights over the next 10 years would be led by nanotechnology, bio-technology and robotics.”

Read the full article at: American economy and progress to be led by nanotechnology, bio-technology and robotics.

BuildingGreen Suite integrates online versions of GreenSpec, Environmental Building News, and a database of more than 160 high-performance building case studies. The information is searchable and cross-referenced by CSI MasterFormat division, LEED credit, or green topic. Each article, product listing, and case study also lists related content and information sources.

Access: BuildingGreen Suite or go to Databases by Title page an click on BuildingGreen  Suite.

Building Green also provides access to High Performance Building database that provides access to case studies of projects ranging from homes and commercial interiors to large buildings and even whole campuses and neighborhoods. See ‘Using High Performance Building Database’ for more information on how to search this database.

The BuildingGreen.com LIVE blog is the place for real-time event coverage, reviews,and latest news from atest news from all over the green building world. You can find entries such as Putting wind turbines on buildings doesn’t make sense

Books

Click on the links below to see what books are available in the library in some key areas related to Sustainability Issues, Life Cycle Assessment and Management.

• Construction Management
• Life Cycle and Environment*
• Material Flow Analysis
• Sustainable Development
• Appropriate Technology
• Sustainability
• Energy and Technology

To find additional books, search in our online catalog using Advanced Keyword Searching and using appropriate research keywords.

Electronic Books

Click on the links below to access electronic books (Access only to Drexel faculty and students)

You can access full book chapters using electronic book collections such as ebrary, ENGnetBASE,  Knovel, MATERIALSnetBASE, and MECHANICALnetBASE.

• AccessScience
• CivilENGINEERINGnetBASE
• ebrary
• ElectricalENGINEERINGnetBASE
• ENGnetBASE
• ENVIROnetBASE
• Knovel: Engineering and Scientific Online References
• MATERIALSnetBASE
• MechanicalENGINEERINGnetBASE

Engineering Databases

Use databases below to find scholarly journal articles on the topic of your research project.

• ASCE Civil Engineering Database
• ASCE Conference Proceedings Online
• Annual Reviews
• BuildingGreen – (BuildingGreen Suite integrates online versions of GreenSpec, Environmental Building News, and a database of more than 160 high-performance building case studies.)
• Earthquake Engineering Abstracts
• Ei Compendex and INSPEC
• Environmental Engineering Abstracts
• GeoRef
• Google Scholar
• GreenFILE
• Home Depot Smart Home
• MAD CAD – (NOTE: access to cross-referenced collections of building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire, and maintenance codes from BOCA, SBCCI, ICBO, ICC, and NFPA.)
• ScienceDirect
• Transportation Research Information Services Online
• How do I obtain full papers from the Proceedings of the SPIE and other conferences that are not available in the library?

ILI Standards Infobase

The ILI standards database is a bibliographic standards database. It covers over 600,000 worldwide standards. Over 250 major Standards issuing authorities are covered, from the US, Europe, the international bodies ISO and IEC to Japan and Australia. Any ASTM standards can also be requested through ILI Standards Infobase.

Interdisciplinary Databases

• Database/Article Indexes for Interdisciplinary Research

Web Resources and Journal Articles

• Life Cycle Assessment (EPA)
• Evaluation of Risks of Metal Flows and Acumulation in Economy and Environment
  
• Practical Handbook of Material Flow Analysis
• The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to LCA

• Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Goods and Services (Book will be in the Library)
• Life Cycle Energy Analysis of a Water Distribution System
• Sustainability Assessment: Criteria and Processes
• Urban Transformations and Sustainability

Completed in November of 2007, the Smart Home was awarded a LEED-NC Platinum Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its excellence is sustainable design. Several sustainable systems are incorporated into the home including rainwater harvesting, solar hot water heating, photovoltaic power generation, a green roof, rain garden, energy recovery ventilator, and renewable and recycled materials. Alongside these systems, many innovative technologies developed by the students are integrated into the home including voice recognition systems, shower water heat recovery, and energy performance and water usage monitoring systems.

Continue reading at:  Home Depot Smart Home

See also:  The Whole Building Design Techniques and Technologies