ENERGY EFFICIENCY, HVAC, THERMAL COMFORT AND PASSIVE DESIGN

 

The central philosophy behind green building is the judicious use of resources in a manner that provides for man’s needs today without jeopardizing the ability of the future generation to fulfill their own energy needs.

The illustration above shows the authors’ conceptualization of how energy consumption is related to the use of HVAC equipment, which emanates from the need to maintain a comfortable indoor environment for the occupants in terms of indoor air quality and thermal comfort. The arrows indicate the two way relationship between the sections implying that any change in either of the sections bears significance on the others.  The authors’ argue that for energy consumption to reduce, passive design strategies must be adjusted to provide alternative sources of natural ventilation and thermal comfort. Such design strategies may include but not limited to design issues affecting building height, form, orientation, etcetra.

If we are going to continue building tall, we must figure out how to keep the energy consumption of such buildings within environmentally and economically sustainable limits. 

ARCHITECTURAL 3D VISUALIZATION 3-IN-ONE PRACTICAL COURSE

 

Download program brochure to learn more about the private visualization course. You may contact the author if you are interested in having a private online training course after reading through the brochure. 

VISA EXTENSION - INDIA - PROCEEDURE AND GUIDELINES

If you live or work in India and you are looking for the proceedure for extending your current visa to afford you more time to complete your purpose of visit, then you may want to be careful with the website(s) you visit because there are lots of websites purporting to be visa and travel agencies who may ask for money where there MAY BE absolutely no fee - Yes, absolutely no fee.

For avoidance of any doubts, it is advised that anyone seeking to extend a subsisting visa within India should log on to the efrro official website and follow the simple steps specified on the visa extension form.

You will have to complete the application form for visa extemsion ( it is advised that the individual be present in India at the time of completing the application). The office would typically reachout to you via the email address you provided when registering on the frro portal. They may request additional documentation depending upon the nature of the susbsisting visa or where necessary.

Once your submitted documents are vetted and deemed satisfactory, you may be required to make some payment - especially in the case of a research visa. Note that there is no payment as of date for extension of other categories of student visa.

At every stage of your application, you may communicate with the frro office through the official website for any clarifications you may require. Be ware of predatory websites that may purport to be "accredited" agents of the frro office and may charge you a fee in the name of helping you apply for your visa extension. You can do it all yourself through your official account on the official  efrro official website

I wish you the best of luck!

Ph.D in India Vs. Ph.D in Nigeria - A Contemplation

 

Kosi Emmanuel Chukwujindu - During Ph.D in India - 2021

A PhD in any field of study is a rigorous self-undertaking that usually involves a lot of sacrifice on the part of the scholar.  The entire process leading up to the award of a Doctorate degree in any discipline is structured to ensure that the researcher makes a real contribution to knowledge in that field.

Often times, what we consider as the task at the beginning of our expression of interest to undertake a PhD research changes many times during the process and it helps to have proper guidance and a tailored program of work.

Speaking of proper guidance, it is expected that a Ph.D. research scholar must be guided by a supervisor who him / her self have earned their own doctorate in a related field. As a Nigerian who had enrolled for a Ph.D. study in Nigeria for six(6) years before deciding to leave the country to pursue the same degree abroad, my experience has been tough but I have learnt a lot for which I am immensely grateful.

In this post, I share the highlights of my experience as I can't help comparing conditions of study in both countries.

1. IMPROVED LECTURER'S ACCESSIBILITY 

In Nigeria, I had a hard time accessing my supervisor, he was of the Professor cadre and this meant he was only in school on scheduled days. If you didn't catch him on any of those, then you had to wait till the next time. It's different here in India. The Professors are always on seat and willing to discuss your work anytime. This was a real consolation to me because now I knew I only had to focus on the progress of my research and not bother about chasing the guide, since he's always on sit.

2. INFO/EXPOSURE TO LATEST RESEARCH TOOLS 

In my university in Nigeria, because the lecturers are not very accessible, it's harder to grab guidance on what best research tools are there and how best to combine them. There seems to be a certain "darkness" surrounding this and sometimes one would almost conclude it appears they are not very hands-on with the tools, themselves. This makes it tougher for research scholars in Nigeria to compete with their global counterparts. In India however, I found most research guides had practical current knowledge of research tools and software applications. We were literally thought the use of simulation softwares during the coursework part of our first year. 

This was a huge departure from my African background where if you learnt to use any software at all, you either enrolled for a private lesson at a private tutor place or you got a friend to show you privately, practical exposure to research/simulation software never came from my supervisors.

3. FEWER DISTRACTIONS

The biggest challenge I faced while enrolled as a Ph.D. research scholar in Nigeria was my own inability to focus on the research due to multiple distractions from other engagements such as my very demanding private practice, family, and lecturing. It was easy to drift off from the research when you had a thriving Architecture practice and a demanding lecturing job. I figured if I would make any headway with my PhD work, then I had to get away from all the distractions and the only way to do so was to leave the country to the greatest surprise of everyone, to go somewhere I can focus and finish off the research and probably get better supervision. I had to leave and I had to do so quickly!

I realized PhD research was in itself a full time engagement.

4. NO STUDENT LEVIES

In Nigeria, it was common to have the students levied by lecturers and the school for buying research related equipment for the department. One time we had to pay NGN5,000 each in order to procure a new set of public address system and projector for the department seminar room. The condition was that whoever did not contribute this sum, would not be permitted to present his work in the seminar room and ofcourse you could forget about getting any objective feedback on your work.

In India, I havent paid a rupee for anything departmental asides my tuition and exam fees. Everything is taken care of by the department and maintained by the school authority. This was also a relief.

5. HIGHER GLOBAL BEST PRACTISE AWARENESS

As they say, PhD degree is the highest academic degree obtainable and it is a globally recognized academic venture. Coming to India helped me refine my research to take a global perspective on the research questions I was trying to find answers to. 

6. BETTER QUALITY OF RESEARCH OUTPUT

For some reason Nigerian scholars abroad seemed to be producing richer quality of research output in many disciplines compared to our colleagues in Nigeria. This is a personal observation and I am still unsure why it is so. I think there is no pressure to compete international scheme of things at home in Nigeria, this has a negative effect on researchers ambitions. We settle for whatever can get us past the degree, even if its not relevant anywhere else. 

Also, I saw a metric somewhere that rated research publications from Nigeria, Kenya South Africa and the United States. In terms of economic impact of research, Nigeria scored zero. This points to the fact that in Nigeria, it's either the government does not rely on research output for making economic decision or the research output do not have any immediate or midterm economic relevance. This should be looked into.

7. EXPOSURE TO OTHER INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Doing research while surrounded by a diverse community of co-researchers and scholars naturally lifts your threshold for excellence.

Subscribe to this blog for more of such discussions and leave a comment below if you find any more differences or think differently about something I've highlighted here. Would be glad to discuss

A PERSONAL REALIZATION ON HUMAN DESIRES

Everything we desire in life comes to us at the right time if we truly need it and continue to apply the right effort with the right attitude (state of mind) towards it and if it is in the overall good of the universe. No matter how difficult or how far away it seems, at the right time it will come to us. 

As humans we have an insatiable desire for materials; cars, houses, clothes, food, sex, money etc - the list is endless. Sometimes we really need these things, most times we only want them because our friend does or because it makes us look better than others. Even when we have what we need already, we continue to want more, we imagine that we may run out of stock and so we are always trapped in an endless cycle of get this - get that, get this - get that, then get that, and then get this..

Sometimes when we have everything we desire, it hampers our spiritual growth. Some level of pain is important for us to understand joy. Other times when we don't have enough of what we need, it can also delay us from realizing our goals. Some level of stability is required for us to stay productive.

Balance is the key.

Understanding that nothing is a do-or-die affair and at the same time being able to set goals, work toward them and achieve them is what we need to get through life.

Food for thought: Why were the Isrealites instructed not to keep any of the manna from heaven overnight? They were to eat only their "daily bread" and not attempt to stock up any for the next day?

Share your thoughts using the comment box below.