The paper presents an analysis of the work comfort in a home office located in a single-family building with supply and exhaust ventilation with heat recovery. The noise level was measured, and the subjective feelings of the working person were analysed. The analysis covered five fan efficiency settings: fan off, low, normal, high and maximum. The highest sound level (31–32 dB(A)) was observed for the maximum and high power of the fan. Normal and low fan levels resulted in a similar noise level of 20–21 dB(A). The sound level influenced the feeling of work comfort of the person. At the highest and maximum level of fan operation, the person complained about noise and draft. The low level did not adversely affect the comfort of work. The normal level, most often set by household members, resulted in the absence of draught or the sensation of a slight draught, and the ventilation operation was described as not onerous or slightly onerous. Workplace comfort depends on the operating conditions of the ventilation system (noise level, air velocity and temperature) and on the subjective feelings of the person working. In order to improve comfort, it is recommended that one locate the workplace away from the ventilation elements. Full article

For years, activated carbon manufacturing has been based on coal. However, today, as coal mines in Eastern Europe are not accessible anymore, companies producing coal-based adsorptive materials need to search for new raw materials. Sugar cane fibers may provide an alternative solution. The sugar cane fibers tested were supplied from five different local sugar factories, and other soil, farming and harvesting conditions were maintained. In terms of cellulose and hemicelluloses, the chemical composition of sugar cane fibers is similar to wood; the differences are in the lignin content, with bagasse containing less lignin compared to wood. The research and production process included thermolysis, cooling, granulation, and then carbonization and activation. The final products were washed to remove ash and dried. In the new sugar cane fibers, it was shown that activated carbon has a well-developed porous structure and high adsorption capacity, especially for organic compounds with small particle sizes. Full article

This paper presents research that contributed to the development of guidelines for technology related to the management of dairy industry waste for energy purposes, used as an additive in the process of pelleting with wood sawdust. During the tests, the most advantageous material (composition and moisture of the mixture), process and construction parameters from the point of view of energy consumption of the process, and the quality of the obtained pellets were determined. The obtained results showed that increasing the content of post-flotation dairy sewage sludge in the mixture with sawdust increase its susceptibility to granulation, which reduces the energy consumption of the process and has a positive effect on the kinetic strength and density of the obtained granulate. The obtained values of the heat of combustion and the calorific value prove that the addition of post-flotation dairy sewage sludge only slightly reduces the energy values of the produced pellets. Full article

Cities are indicated as areas contributing to the smog problem. Nevertheless, they can also be viewed as a source of solutions. In modern urban agglomerations, we can observe innovative solutions such as buses filtering the air and plant installations cleaning the air around buildings. Since more than half of the human population lives in cities, the air quality in these places is a crucial aspect of a functioning of society. This study characterized the phenomenon of smog and discussed its types as well as potential architectural and urban solutions to counteract this phenomenon in urban agglomerations. Full article

Activated carbon (AC) is produced by either a physical or chemical activation process. It is used in various industries such as water treatment, air purification, and in the processes of clarification, liquid deodorization, and alcohol distillation. They are also used for the recovery of volatile compounds from post-production and waste gases, as well as the recovery of active substances in the pharmaceutical industry. They are also used in technological processes during the production of a number of pharmaceutical, biochemical, and chemical preparations. In order to restore the original physicochemical parameters of granular activated carbon (GAC), we must carry out a regeneration process at high temperature (600–850 °C). During the process, high-pressure steam and carbon dioxide are injected into the regeneration kiln. The conducted research focused on the effect of the temperature of the regeneration process on the sorption and strength parameters of the WG-12 activated carbon samples tested. The entire process was carried out in a laboratory tube kiln MTTF-1200 under identical conditions for both samples. The results showed that the effect of temperature on the regeneration process is very significant. In both cases, it was observed that, as the specified temperature was exceeded, the adsorption capacity and mechanical strength of the tested activated carbon decreased. The efficiency of the process also deteriorated. Full article

In the context of sustainable cities and communities, to meet the European aim of a carbon-free economy by 2050, and to tackle the current climate change, the retrofitting of the Italian residential building stock, as well the green regeneration of urban districts, is essential. The research aims at assessing the influence of some cooling strategies applied in a defined hypothetical but realistic urban grid located in Florence, evaluating multistorey and tower building types, respectively. Using ENVI-met software, several micro-climate parameters were evaluated. The most significant outcomes were related to the substitution of the current dark asphalt (reference case) with cool pavements as an improvement strategy. This measure resulted in an average reduction of external air temperature equal to 1.5 °C. Otherwise, the application of green façade technology on buildings noticeably influenced both the wall surface temperature (reduction of around 12 °C) and the wall energy balance (reduction of about 60 W/m²) with respect to traditional external wall configurations. Full article

Nowadays, we can find many studies about evaporative cooling pads, but a uniform methodology does not exist for experimental tests, and many factors are less studied. Our goal is to design and build a versatile experimental facility that enables the characterization of these pads under different operating conditions: airflow (velocity), relative humidity, temperature, pad thickness, pad material and water distribution system. The test bench will permit the use of different water distributors and any type of pad material with three different thickness. Full article

Cytotoxicity assays are a fundamental tool used in molecular biology, as well as in pharmacy, for drug discovery studies. Most of these assays are based on the measurement of cell viability and proliferation. The reduction of MTT is a widely used colorimetric assay method that determines the viability of cells/cytotoxicity. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in polyphenolic compounds, which exhibit many health-promoting properties and therefore carry enormous therapeutic potential that could be used in the fight against various diseases of civilization (i.e., cancer, atherosclerosis, obesity, and diabetes). The commonly used MTT test may provide incorrect results due to the phenomenon of chemical interaction with plant extracts. More and more assays based on the measurement of intracellular ATP (i.e., CellTiter-Glo) are appearing on the market, and according to many scientists, they are a promising alternative to the tetrazolium salt reduction test. The aim of this study was to compare the utility of the colorimetric MTT assay and the bioluminescent CellTiter-Glo assay for the evaluation of compounds from the polyphenol’s group. Analysis of both methods was performed by comparing the obtained results of the viability of Caco-2 cells treated with a wide range of concentrations of polyphenolic compounds: cichoric acid, caftaric acid, caffeic acid, and cynarin. The results show some discrepancies in the cell survival. Moreover, the overestimation of Caco-2 cell viability using MTT assay confirms the occurrence of interference between MTT assay and analyzed polyphenols. It was confirmed that the CellTiterGlo assay has a higher accuracy of measurement, thus providing more reliable results of cytotoxic analysis of polyphenols compared to the MTT assay. Full article

The paper presents the estimation of sulfur dioxide emissions as an effect of coal and pellet combustion in an automatic boiler equipped with a retort burner based on the actual heat consumption required for heating a building and heating domestic hot water for a single-family house in Poland. In Poland, automatic boilers with an installed retort burner are popular and can be used to burn various fragmented solid fuels. In Poland, the most popular solid fuel burned in boilers with a retort burner is crushed coal, called eco-pea coal. The second fuel used in automatic boilers with a retort planer is biomass in the form of pellets, which is classified as a renewable energy source. Heat consumption during the combustion of eco-pea coal was measured over a period of three years. Based on the heat consumption and coal and pellet combustion emission factors in the automatic boilers, the average annual emissions of sulfur dioxide using the eco-pea coal and pellets were estimated. The presented results of the analysis indicate a significant reduction in the sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by replacing eco-pea coal with fuel sourced from biomass in the form of pellets. Full article

Impact Assessment (EIA) is an instrument of sustainable development. This paper focuses on the selection between technological variants of an investment in the Environmental Impact Assessment as a base material, using a different method than the original. The author selects the optimal technological variant using the MCDA methods with a hybrid approach, combining the AHP method to determine the criteria weights, as well as the TOPSIS method to create the variant ranking. The results are compared. Full article

Waste batteries and accumulators are a group of waste, the amount of which is constantly increasing every year. A particular weight gain of this type of waste is observed for lithium-ion batteries used in various electronic devices and modern passenger vehicles. Due to the complex chemical composition and the content of different valuable metals, used Li-ion batteries should be subjected to appropriate recycling methods, the purpose of which is to separate the individual raw materials included in the battery. Regarding the demand for innovative technologies for processing spent Li-ion batteries, a concept of laboratory experiments was developed in the field of hydrometallurgical recovery of Li and Co contained in the battery powder obtained from this type of waste. As a result, it was shown that it is possible to effectively recover the tested metals with an adequately designed leaching process. Full article

Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are responsible for about 20% of energy consumption in buildings. In terms of energy saving, evaporative cooling technology presents an interesting solution to conventional vapor compression systems. However, few studies have analyzed water-related indexes in indirect evaporative coolers (IECs). The main objective of this work was to evaluate the environmental impact and water-use efficiency of IECs in Southern Europe. Several models of performance indexes for the evaluated IEC system were developed via experimental tests. Based on energy simulations, the IEC system reached the highest values of annual SEER (7.6), $KPI$_C-W (0.28 kWh/L), and $KPI$_C-CO2 (16.2 kWh/kg CO₂) for Lampedusa weather conditions. These results show that the IEC system for hot climate zones reached the highest environmental and water-use efficiency values. Full article

Chillers can perform more efficiently in hot and dry climates if equipped with adiabatic rather than air-cooled condensers; however, the former imply water consumption. Because the power generation also requires a certain water consumption, the energy savings achieved in adiabatic condensers would yield indirect water savings. This work provides a preliminary evaluation of the suitability of both condenser types in terms of water consumption and energy efficiency, based on a case study in Valladolid (Spain). Full article

Pesticides are agricultural drugs used to combat weeds, plants, and insects that are harmful to the product and affect the efficiency during the cultivation of plants. However, pesticides are highly toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic, even at low concentrations and pesticides persist in nature for a long period. Pesticide manufacturing industry wastewater causes pollution problems due to the toxic components, high chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), high total dissolved solids (TDS) and intensive color, disgusting odor, and generally low pH values. Since adequate treatment efficiency cannot be obtained with biological treatment in these wastewaters, chemical processes based on advanced oxidation methods are needed for the removal of toxicity and organic load caused by pesticide wastewater. Advanced oxidation methods are based on the formation of hydroxyl radicals (OH^●) and provide the conversion of toxic organic substances into harmless products. The major objective of this study was to investigate the oxidation of raw pesticide wastewater using the photo-Fenton process by using a Box-Behnken statistical experimental design and surface response methodology. In the photo-Fenton experiments, the effects of different oxidant and catalyst concentrations for COD removal at different reaction times were investigated using Box-Behnken statistical design. Because of the studies, the most appropriate reaction conditions according to COD removal are: H₂O₂ concentration of 1000 mg/L, Fe⁺² concentration of 325 mg/L, reaction time of 35 min, and COD yield of 70%. Full article

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) is concerned with the long-term management of water resources in Europe. The primary goal of the Water Framework Directive is to attain “good water status”. Surface, coastal, and transitional waters must have “good ecological and chemical status” in order to protect human health, water supply, ecosystems, and biodiversity. To obtain a good chemical status, water resources must be free of physical and chemical contamination. Priority and specific pollutants are the key issues in chemical pollution. Nonpoint and point sources of pollution must be taken into account by EU member and candidate countries when determining pollutants distinctive to their own nations. Each basin has its own specific pollution profile in terms of agricultural, industrial, and anthropogenic characteristics. Therefore, the measures to be taken within the scope of water management should also be specific to the basin. Likewise, studies should be carried out to match the pollutants originating from the sectors operating in the basin with those sectors. It is important to evaluate the list of special pollutants created due to industrial and agricultural activities within the boundaries of the basin. Hence, pollutants in this list can also be customized as “prioritization of specific pollutant” using risk factors. Full article

Approximately 40% and 36% of total energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, respectively, in the EU are due to buildings. A large percentage of this energy consumption and its associated CO₂ emissions are due to conventional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Solar desiccant cooling (SDEC) systems present a high energy saving potential to replace conventional HVAC systems. However, SDEC systems could generate a high environmental impact during their manufacturing stage, which may even exceed the benefit in the use phase. Therefore, the aim of this work is to focus on studying feasible ecodesign strategies for a SDEC system composed mainly of an indirect evaporative cooler, a desiccant wheel and a solar thermal system. More specifically, the strategies considered were: (a) selection of environmentally friendly materials, such as biocomposites based on natural fibers; (b) weight optimization; and (c) reuse of components at the end of the life phase. The results showed that the proposed strategies to the SDEC system could significantly improve the environmental impact throughout its entire life cycle. Combining all the proposed improvements, the environmental impact was reduced between 45% and 60% for all the indicators. Full article

This article presents a design of the prototype and experimental verification of an air quality measurement device that can be equipped with sensors such as CH4, CO₂, O₂, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀. The proposed solution allows for a long-term visual observation that is connected with the monitoring of air parameters, due to the power supply via a cable from the ground. Full article

This paper determined the influence of selected inorganic substances on the UV-based decomposition of organic micropollutants from a group of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, industrial additives, hormones, and food additives, depending on the number of days in water. It was determined that the presence of NaCl and CaCl₂ did not significantly affect the photodecomposition of micropollutants. A marked decrease in compound decomposition compared to the solution without inorganic compounds was noted in suspensions with Al³⁺ and Fe³⁺ cations. The addition of NH₄⁺ affected the increase in compound decomposition, which was especially noted for compounds belonging to the group of pesticides, industrial additives, and hormones. Full article

The changes taking place in the environment, as well as the dynamic development of anthropogenic activity and uncontrolled emissions of pollutants into the air for many years, significantly contribute to the deterioration of air quality, and thus the level and safety of human health and the natural environment. Thanks to increasing awareness of the composition of the air, special attention has been paid to securing controllable pollutants and removing PM2.5 and PM10 dust from the particles of air flowing into living quarters. In this study, the sources of airborne dust occurrence are characterized, and its impact on the environment and the technologies used in devices for air purification from dust pollutants are presented. Full article

Waste from the agri-food sector has great potential for use as a building material. The paper concerns a pilot study of the use of buckwheat husk for board production. Buckwheat husk, obtained as waste during buckwheat hulling, is a material with a low bulk density (about 180 kg·m⁻³); hence, its use through compaction to form a board is a valuable solution to increase the value of this material. The preliminary research conducted proved to be the basis for the implementation of a broader study. Additional motivation to develop the project of ecological boards is the fact that their product uses buckwheat hulls, which is a waste product from the agri-food industry. With the right technology, boards of this type could be an alternative to furniture boards. Full article