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Interior workspace environments use exclusively artificial light, resulting in a loss of biological connection and natural light quality, as well as greater energy consumption. The purpose of the study is to identify a suitable system that can provide natural light to such interior spaces throughout the day while supplementing it with artificial light when necessary. The fundamental aim is to provide insights into the most effective solutions for energy-efficient lighting design in the UAE's environment, with the potential to lower energy consumption related to interior lighting.

The study adopted an empirical approach to gather and analyze primary data based on field measurements to understand and assess existing lighting conditions, as well as DIALux lighting simulation software to test the efficacy of the proposed HLS in terms of natural light delivery, illumination quality and energy consumption. A branch of a local bank in the United Arab Emirates, situated inside one of the shopping malls where there is no natural light penetration, has been chosen as a case study.

The findings of comparing the base case to four probable scenarios that used HLS revealed that the third scenario, which uses 100% pure sunshine and 35% artificial LED light during daylight operations and 100% LED light during night duty, is considered to be optimal in terms of illumination quality and energy efficiency.

The study demonstrated the potential of innovative lighting to improve the visual working environment in interior spaces with limited access to direct natural lighting, especially in arid regions, where sunlight is plentiful throughout the year. The study contributes new insights into the establishment of lighting-related recommendations and standards for the UAE context. This may include advice for sustainable construction practices, lighting guidelines or incentives to encourage the use of hybrid lighting technology in commercial and institutional buildings.

This study investigates the barriers and drivers of using green methods and technologies (GMTs) in supportive educational buildings (SEBs) in South Africa, and assesses their impact on the circular economy (CE) in achieving net-zero carbon goals. While there has been extensive literature on green building technologies, there is limited research on the barriers and drivers of using GMT in SEBs, as well as their impact on the circular economy (CE) in achieving net-zero carbon goals.

This study adopts an interpretivist approach with an ontological basis, using an overarching case study of a SEB at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Semistructured interviews were conducted with executive UCT management, and a field survey of a UCT supportive education building was performed.

At UCT, multiple GMTs have been installed across various buildings to enhance monitoring and management of water and energy consumption. Moreover, initiatives to positively influence student behavior, such as water and energy-saving campaigns around UCT premises, have been introduced. The findings further indicate that UCT has recently emphasized the implementation of GMTs, resulting in improved resource efficiency, CE practices and progress toward achieving net-zero carbon targets for supportive education buildings and the university as a whole.

This research highlights the positive impact of GMTs on a SEB’s CE and net-zero carbon operations. As a result, facility managers should consider incorporating GMTs when planning the development or refurbishment of SEBs.

Heavy rainfall is one of the main causes of the degradation of historic rammed Earth architecture. For this reason, ensuring the conservation thereof entails understanding the factors involved in these risk situations. The purpose of this study is to research three past events in which rainfall caused damage and collapse to historic rammed Earth fortifications in Andalusia in order to analyse whether it is possible to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.

The three case studies analysed are located in the south of Spain and occurred between 2017 and 2021. The hazard presented by rainfall within this context has been obtained from Art-Risk 3.0 (Registration No. 201999906530090). The vulnerability of the structures has been assessed with the Art-Risk 1 model. To characterise the strength, duration, and intensity of precipitation events, a workflow for the statistical use of GPM and GSMaP satellite resources has been designed, validated, and tested. The strength of the winds has been evaluated from data from ground-based weather stations.

GSMaP precipitation data is very similar to data from ground-based weather stations. Regarding the three risk events analysed, although they occurred in areas with a torrential rainfall hazard, the damage was caused by non-intense rainfall that did not exceed 5 mm/hour. The continuation of the rainfall for several days and the poor state of conservation of the walls seem to be the factors that triggered the collapses that fundamentally affected the restoration mortars.

A workflow applied to vulnerability and hazard analysis is presented, which validates the large-scale use of satellite images for past and present monitoring of heritage structure risk situations due to rain.

The current predominant delivery format resulting from digitization is PDF, which is not appropriate for the blind, partially sighted and people who read on mobile devices. To meet the needs of both communities, as well as broader ones, alternative file formats are required. With the findings of the eBooks-On-Demand-Network Opening Publications for European Netizens project research, this study aims to improve access to digitized content for these communities.

In 2022, the authors conducted research on the digitization experiences of 13 EODOPEN partners at their organizations. The authors distributed the same sample of scans in English with different characteristics, and in accordance with Web content accessibility guidelines, the authors created 24 criteria to analyze their digitization workflows, output formats and optical character recognition (OCR) quality.

In this contribution, the authors present the results of a trial implementation among EODOPEN partners regarding their digitization workflows, used delivery file formats and the resulting quality of OCR results, depending on the type of digitization output file format. It was shown that partners using the OCR tool ABBYY FineReader Professional and producing scanning outputs in tagged PDF and PDF/UA formats achieved better results according to set criteria.

The trial implementations were limited to 13 project partners’ organizations only.

This research paper can be a valuable contribution to the field of massive digitization practices, particularly in terms of improving the accessibility of the output delivery file formats.

With the growing need for employees to be innovative, public-sector organizations are investing in employee training. This study aims to examine the effects of a combined Lean Six Sigma and innovation training, using action learning, on public-sector employees’ creative role identity and innovative work behavior.

The authors studied a public service agency in Singapore in which a five-day Lean Innovation Training was implemented, using a combination of Lean Six Sigma and Creative Problem-Solving tools, with a simulation on day one and subsequent team-based project coaching, spread over six months. The authors administered pre- and postintervention surveys among all the employees, and initiated group interviews and observations before, during and after the intervention.

Creative role identity and innovative work behavior had significantly improved six months after the intervention, enabled through senior management’s transformational leadership. The training induced managers to role-model innovative work behaviors while cocreating, with their employees, a renewal of their agency’s core processes. The three completed improvement projects contributed to an innovative work culture and reduced service turnaround time.

Starting with a role-playing simulation on the first day, during which leaders and followers swapped roles, the action-learning type training taught all the organizational members to use various Lean Six Sigma and Creative Problem-Solving tools. This nimble Lean Innovation Training, and subsequent team-based project coaching, exemplifies how advancing the staff’s creative role identity can have a positive impact.

A wide gap exists between the innovation and development of self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology (SMART) technologies and the actual adoption by older adults or those caring for them. This paper aims to increase awareness of available technologies and describes their suitability for older adults with different needs. SMART technologies are intelligent devices and systems that enable autonomous monitoring of their status, data analysis or direct feedback provision.

This is a scoping review of SMART technologies used and marketed to older adults or for providing care.

Five categories of SMART technologies were identified: (1) wearable technologies and smart tools of daily living; (2) noninvasive/unobtrusive technology (i.e. passive technologies monitoring the environment, health and behavior); (3) complex SMART systems; (4) interactive technologies; (5) assistive and rehabilitation devices. Technologies were then linked with needs related to everyday practical tasks (mainly applications supporting autonomous, independent living), social and emotional support, health monitoring/managing and compensatory assistance rehabilitation.

When developing, testing or implementing technologies for older adults, researchers should clearly identify concrete needs these technologies help meet to underscore their usefulness.

Older adults and caregivers should weigh the pros and cons of different technologies and consider the key needs of older adults before investing in any tech solution.

SMART technologies meeting older adult needs help support both independent, autonomous life for as long as possible as well as aiding in the transition to assisted or institutionalized care.

This is the first review to explicitly link existing SMART technologies with the concrete needs of older adults, serving as a useful guide for both older adults and caregivers in terms of available technology solutions.