The Controversy Of Gay Marriages Essay - 957 Words

The controversy of gay marriages increases in debate within the United States and continues to be a debate even in the political scene. Whether we approve or disapprove of gay marriages the United States courts may force many to follow the law even despite the fact it may jeopardize their religious beliefs. An Ashland Kentucky Clerk, Kim Davis, became a symbol of religious resistance to same sex marriages by defying to approve licenses to couples that presented in the courthouse. Kim went as far as directing her deputies to reject licensures as well as causing further conflict with the gay community. Ms. Davis was even jailed for opposing a Supreme Court Ruling directing her to offer the license in her office and chose to spend time in jail to uphold her religious beliefs rather than agree to present the license to same sex couples. Within hours of Ms. Davis being jailed the attention intensified and Christian conservatives and Republican political leaders came to her support. â€Å"Marriage is between one man and one woman,† Ms. Davis said during a frequently tearful turn on the witness stand. When Mr. Gannam, one of Davis’s lawyers, asked whether she approved of same-sex marriage, she replied, â€Å"It’s not of God.† (Blinder, Lewin The New York Times 2015) On the other hand Ms. Davis is a long time government elected employee. Should she follow the law regardless of her beliefs since she elected to serve her community? This is one question several have inquired. The communityShow MoreRelated The Gay Marriage Controversy Essays2427 Words   |  10 PagesMarriage has been an important part of life since the Biblical times. It usually consists of the union of a man and a woman, but for gays and lesbians, it is the union of two men and two women. On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that the US Constitution guarantees the right for same-sex couples to marry. Many conservatives are completely against gay marriage and they have stated that they will fight to have the Supreme Court ruling overturned. Legalizing gay marriage is a very difficultRead MoreThe Controversy Of Legalizing Gay Marriage834 Words   |  4 Pagesthey did not raise the drinking age. By pressuring, or as some say punishing, the federal government was able to use their authority to force Louisiana to coincide with the rest of the nation. More recently states are slowly but surely legalizing Gay Marriage. This is also an example of how slowly individual states are acknowledging the authority the federal government holds. In northern Belgium, citizens demanded for the government to make changes regarding the countries waste disposal practices. Read More210243 gay marriage Essays999 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ The Controversies Surrounding Gay Marriages: How Much the Fabric of Society Can Withstand Student’s name: Institution: Abstract The issue of gay marriages has been discussed for quite a while from a number of perspectives; however, its economic aspects are rarely touched upon. In their article Firms balk at gay weddings, Nathan Koppel and Ashey Jones shed some light on the controversy surrounding the provision of services regarding the arrangement of same sex weddings from the perspectiveRead MoreControversial Topic of Same-Sex Marriage797 Words   |  3 Pagesthe Congressional Quarterly Researcher (CQR) issued a report covering the issue of gay marriage. In their article, Gay Marriage, the CQR discusses the controversy of curbs on same-sex marriage, as well as if the Supreme Court will end these curbs. Within this larger controversy of same-sex marriage, the CQR points out four issues dealing with the topic at hand. The first issue questions whether the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) improperly denies federal benefits to same sex couples. Another issueRead MoreSame Sex Marriage and Politics in the U.S. Essay800 Words   |  4 PagesSex Marriage has become a major issue in the United States. There are variations in opinions concerning the topic. The main concern is should same sex marriage be allowed or declared unconstitutional. Plenty of conservatives are completely against gay marriage and many of liberals are fighting for equal treatment. Many controversies and arguments have developed from this issue. There are many reasons why gay marriage should be legal or illegal. The people who oppose same sex marriage or alsoRead MoreThe Issue Of Gay Marriages1028 Words   |  5 PagesSeptember 2, 2015 The Issue Of Gay Marriages Through The Eyes Of Sociologists Gay marriages have been an ongoing event in the United States for many years. It was not until June 26, 2015 when gay marriage was legalized for all states with a five to four ratio. With gay marriage being legalized, there became many controversies in the nation. The most recent controversy was when a Kentucky county clerk was jailed after defying a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to a same-sex couple. SheRead MoreEquality for All: Gay Marriage Essay1430 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"below the majority† were usually victorious. With that said, there is an inevitable future for the homosexual community to be eventually equal to everyone else. The question remains, what justifies the right for a gay couple to have the same benefits as a heterosexual couple? Gay marriage has been a wide spread issue for quite a bit of time and multiple arguments have been made as to why it should not occur, but none of them stand valid against rights provided by the constitution. M any individualsRead MoreShould Same-Sex Couples Be Allowed to Adopt? Essays838 Words   |  4 Pagesin most places which makes this dream for some impossible. This caused controversy between same-sex couples and the general public who believes that same-sex adoption should remain illegal. Ultimately, same-sex adoption should be legal. The same-sex controversy is one of the many results from the slow process of gay marriage becoming legalized in various states across the United States of America. The fight for gay marriage is predated way back to the Stonewall Riots of 1969 (â€Å"The Stonewall Riot†)Read MoreEssay on Recognizing Same-Sex Marriage1565 Words   |  7 PagesSame-Sex Marriage Same-sex marriage is a huge controversy between Americans across the Country. In thirty-three states marriage is defined as a â€Å"union between a man and a woman†. For seventeen states in the U.S. this definition has been changed because every citizen should be treated equally according to the constitution and this also violates the Equal Protection Clause. It became possible for people of the same-sex to marry when it was stated to be unconstitutional. Denying marriage is denyingRead MoreSame Sex Marriage Is Not The Law Of The Land1510 Words   |  7 PagesProfessor Lee Comp Rhetoric 2 20 October 2014 Same-Sex Marriage According to Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, If traditional marriage is not the law of the land, the institution of the family will cease to exist. Traditional marriage is a legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. Inside the court rooms and outside, citizens of the United States battle out their differences between heterosexual and homosexual marriage; one reason for this is because the frequency of relationships

Ethical Issues For Livestrong 5 - 3171 Words

THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY Livestrong Foundation Analysis BUSN 6010 Business Ethics Fall 2014 Zhou Yang (T00049067) Xuan Li (T00045846) Mohsin Shekhani(T00039156) Tung Phan(T00053780) Edward Mishio (T00000000) November 19, 2014 Contents Company Background: 2 Case Background: 3 Ethical Issues for Livestrong 5 Organization Perspective: 5 Funders Perspective: 5 Breakdown of stakeholders involved 7 Organization’s Response: 9 Conclusion: 11 Recommendations: 11 Bibliography: 11 Company Background: In 1996, at the age of 25 Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer that spread to his brain, lungs and abdomen. He educated himself about the cancer and its treatment. While combating with cancer he recognized the resources available for people combatting this cancer were very less. Therefore, he created a foundation with the purpose of helping others who are diagnosed with cancer. It is a non-profit organization. In 1997, Lance Armstrong was officially formed and now known as Livestrong Foundation, has influenced millions of lives over the years. The foundation has fought on behalf of the cancer patients in policy debates and stigma many cancer survivors throughout the world face. Under the leadership of Lance Armstrong, the foundation was able to raise millions of dollars for cancer patients and he was always vigorously fighting for these people in the congress and United Nations. The foundation was able to create an international presence inShow MoreRelatedThe Negative Effects of Child Beauty Pageants Essay1688 Words   |  7 Pagessuperiority above others. Toddlers and Tiaras star Eden Wood, age 6, threw a tantrum at the Allure Fashion Week Lounge in New York when she could not get her teeth whitened, the New York Post reported Thursday (Toddlers and Tiaras). It is not ethical for six-year old toddlers to be asking to get their teeth whitened. Eden is a very well-known and adored pagean t star, consequently she takes advantage of her place in the pageant world by demanding things not suitable for her age and throwing fitsRead MoreZappos5472 Words   |  22 Pagesdirection of O.C. Ferrell and Linda Ferrell. It is provided for the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at the University of New Mexico and is intended for classroom discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of administrative, ethical, or legal decisions by management. Users of this material are prohibited from claiming this material as their own, emailing it to others, or placing it on the Internet. Please call O.C. Ferrell at 505†277†3468 for more information. (2012)   Read MoreStrategic Marketing Planning for Non Profit Organization9605 Words   |  39 Pageslegislative briefing books, and on-line advocacy, for example. Together, this combination of disciplined marketing and focused, issue-oriented communications has made MADD a political force in every statehouse and on Capitol Hill. And it’s not just MADD. Effective organizations of all stripes are taking advantage of both sides of the coin to get the message out about their issue, cultivate donors, and impress policymakers. Take a look next time you go to the web site or get direct mail from the NationalRead MoreMcFit Marketing Strategy Plan Essay5504 Words   |  23 Pagesthe ingredients preferred, such as milk instead of water or vanilla instead of chocolate. Selling protein shakes at McDonald’s is a very viable solution to reaching busy active individuals, vegetarians, and those recovering from illness or injury (LiveStrong, 2012). The need for healthy food with fast food c onvenience exists, and offering Muscle Milk will suit the needs of those individuals wanting more protein, strength, and sustained muscle mass. Muscle Milk provides a precise blend of 25 gramsRead MoreUnderstanding Marketing Management16709 Words   |  67 PagesPlans a Ch ter p 1 In This Chapter, We Will Address the Following Questions 1. Why is marketing important? 2. What is the scope of marketing? 3. What are some core marketing concepts? 4. How has marketing management changed in recent years? 5. What are the tasks necessary for successful marketing management? One of the key factors in Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 U.S. presidential election was a well-designed and well-executed marketing program. Defining Marketing for the 21st

Discuss Two Major Theories of Ageing in Relation to the Development of an Individual free essay sample

Discuss two major theories of ageing in relation to the development of an individual In this part of the assignment I am going to produce two case studies, one on my character that is engaging and another on their neighbour disengaging. Case Study on Hannah Over the months Hannah has improved in all different areas. For example, she has started to go out again socialising and meeting new people, she has recently joined the Gym to improve her fitness and weighs the right weight for her age and height so she is now a healthy weight and she has also been meeting new people by going to the gym and becoming more social able with others, she has started going to rehabilitation for her misuse of alcohol and has been alcohol free for two months. She is now in full time working at a local care home so can afford to look after her children by feeding them and paying her bills such as water and gas therefore the children and herself can wash their selves therefore she has now got a high income coming into her household. We will write a custom essay sample on Discuss Two Major Theories of Ageing in Relation to the Development of an Individual or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She has recently moved to a better estate in a clean home where there no mould growing on the walls therefore her asthma has improved because she do not have many asthma attacks like she did before when she was living in a poor quality house. Since becoming social able and meeting new friends she has now got back in contact with family which has helped by looking after her children while she is in work. She has now cut down on smoking and only smoking up to four times a day when before she was smoking at least 30 fags a day, this is due to her being less stress because stuff for her have started to look up and fitting back into place like it was before her husband died. Because of all these changes she is now engaging. Case Study on Jonathon Jonathon 45 years old has recently gone through a divorce with his wife that he was married to for 20 years. He used to be very active going to the gym 4 times a week and jogging a mile or two twice a week which he has now become un active and staying in most the time watching the television if not going to the shop to buy alcohol. he had a good paying job as a physical education teacher which he had a career in for 10 years which he has recently been sacked because he is always drinking. He used to be very social able going out with his friends to a local men’s institute which involved a couple of drinks on the weekend and a game of pool for a couple of hours but has lost contact with friends because of attitude and behaviour towards them. His family lives in America where as he lives in England and only family he had around him was his mother who had died two years ago before he was going through a divorce with his wife therefore he is alone which is due to becoming un social able. He is living in poor hygiene conditions such as after he has eat which is only three times a week because he relies on alcohol for his hunger he do not wash the dishes and chucks them underneath the settee, this has due to bacteria growing on his furniture such as mould, fly’s and rats into the house. Because he only has a low income because he is only receiving income off the dole he cannot afford to pay his bills, he has had several letters in the mail saying if he does not continuing paying his bills he will be out on the streets, because of these drastic changes in Jonathon he is becoming disengaged.

Important Aspect Economy As Far Business â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Important Aspect Economy As Far Business? Answer: Introducation In current business market, Big Data has come to be a norm of the day as it combines various technological aspects. Some of the aspects of Big Data are; distributed systems, Internet of Things (IoT), communication networks, distributed multimedia sensors and web based applications which are being sued for business transactions in modern world. Due to its increase in marketing activities and maturity in system development, Big Data is currently being adopted by many businesses in daily operations (Kerikmae, 2014). The case study provides a descriptive proof of how Big Data is of great importance and efficiency it brings into the market in terms of decision making in complex organizational structure. Bid Data is expected to provide an important aspect economy as far as businesses and world economy are relying on data for complex organizational decision making. Big Data will soon be a necessity of business because its application is expected to grow from normal business activities to mi litary and business intelligence application. In this regard, due to value of data being used in various businesses, data security becomes a fundamental aspect due to number of threats facing Big Data. Big Data has turned to be target of attack in business, by threat agents and it is expected the nature of attack will be growing rapidly (Tryfonas, Askoxylakis International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 2015). Data security threats is alarming rapidly because of need and importance of organizational data to competitors and even other non- interested parties. This makes Big Data security core of any business that makes use of its services to transact business activities. The ENISA Data threat considers various scenarios in data security. It focuses on ordinary data threat which involves Big Data replication strategy in storage and frequency involved in organizational information sourcing. According to Axelrod (2013), in data storage replication strategy, data leakage and its related degradation threats are some of the emerging specific Data security lapses. With emergency of Big Data, there is significance need for data privacy and protection of organizational data. Similarly, there is growing demand and interest of organizational assets which owners has to put a lot of privacy. In regard to organizational need to safeguard its assets, there is emergency of complex ecosystem of desirable security countermeasures which should be planned and be executed to protect organizational data. Application of privacy and data protection has been implemented as some of the measures being used by organizations to uphold good security practices and lower data risks encountered in Big Data. Lastly, there is provision of existing gaps when analyzing, comparing Big Data threats and necessary counter measures in solving data security lapses. Mainly, this analysis revolves around moving from traditional data approaches, coming up with Big Data solution specifications, developing a focus on gaps and other needs in regard to current organizational standards while planning on standardization. Additionally, according to Felici Fernandez-Gago (2015), there is a focus on professional training specialization, defining tools to be implemented on security and privacy of Big Data, selecting and identifying Big Data assets while making it easy to mitigate data threats and risks. Insufficient Web Application Security Holding to the fact that most of organizations rely on various applications to contact or interface with their customers, data security has become one of the challenging issue (KORSTANJE, 2017). Each application need to be secured in order to make all transactions secure and safe. In regard to Big data security, organizations has to make sure all transactions are secure and data collected from customers is free from manipulation and transactions are real and free from manipulation. Some of attacks that are prone to data include; insufficient authentication occurs when organizational website allows attackers to have access to very sensitive functionality and content without being authenticated by the system in the right manner. A good example of the system that has been permitting users without undergoing proper authentication procedures. ENISA Big Data threat on authentication procedures has to follow the due procedure in regard to available online data resources. Proper authenticati on procedures stipulates that, any web application should not give direct access to Big Data infrastructure without requesting proper user identity. To facilitate complete authentication procedures, websites and other applications which are used by organization to transact and communicate with customers should involve location hiding (Lepofsky, 2014). This makes it possible to protect users point of operations. To ensure maximum security of the system, ENISA recommends that, system should hide their specific locations in which they are operating from. Consequently, Web shell where its functionality is based on scripts which is uploaded on webservers to facilitate remote user authentication and administrative checks as it provides organizational internal operations. Generally, web-shell is described as malicious scripts which are used by attackers targeting websites that escalates continuous access to any web application that has been attacked (Harwood, 2015). In regard to persistent system remote access, web shell should have backdoor which gives chance to an attacker to gain access to organizational servers. On the other hand, an attacker might decide to choose to fix vulnerabilities by making sure no one else can access and exploit the system. This technique makes it possible for system attacker to take a low profile position without administrators knowledge while manipulating the system to obtain all required and sensitive information. Important to note is that, most of web shells makes use of log in credentials besides availab le techniques to ensure attackers have access to it for anonymity purpose. Lastly, SQL injection is one of Web Application Security issues which many organizations has been facing. SQL injection involves an attack where malicious codes are injected into servers which control organizational database. With SQL injection, some codes are used to access organizational data by use of sophisticated retrieval criterion. These codes involves information such as code to fetch information administrators log in details. These details might be used in various ways such a way that, it can track data selection, update, delete and insert data into organizational servers (Cruz-Cunha, Portela IGI Global, 2015). The result of all these threats include system denial of services where normal users of the system are prevented from having access to the system. Otherwise, attackers renders system availability to organizational users. Key Threat Agents ENISA explains threat agent as an individual with all capabilities to pose a threat to the system. With Big Data, ENISA finds it important to be aware of all existing threat and their areas of originality. It is clear that, each threat posed on Big Data must be originating from a threat agent or group of threat agents. According to evaluation of ENISA threat agents, cyber criminals has manifested a lot of hostility in nature, organizations and related government agencies have found themselves on the receiving end of hacking (Information Resources Management Association, 2017). Though ENISA has come up with policies that governs its member states on the mode of operations regarding cyber security, cyber criminals has been quite diverse and sophisticated so solve due to the nature of evolving technology. Origin of cyber criminals is basically based on both local and international level. The main reason of coming up with ENISA security strategy is to have one goal and unified security m easures in solving cyber security problems. Though these policies helps in mitigating cyber security lapses, this does not mean there is complete ENISA strategy in solving cyber criminals problems. Lehto Neittaanma?ki (2015) argues that, to minimize cyber criminals problem, some measures need to be taken in order to minimize threats originating from cyber criminals. Some of the ways which can be used to lower these risks include; setting up of policies that govern general access of information from one country to the other. Since cyber criminals are rising up with alarming rate, it is important to put up strict measures that each ENISA member state has to follow when handling cases related to cyber security. Similarly, with rise in cyber criminals, organizations from each ENISA member states should educate member states on best cyber security strategies while protecting related data. According to Akhgar Brewster (2016), ENISA recommends use of data encryption so that if hackers gains access to the system, data is of no use because they do not have decryption key. When data is encrypted, even after hackers gain access to information system, data obtained would be of no use to the attacker. To make sure data is well preserved, encryption method used should be very strong to make it difficult decipher for security purposes. To make encryption more effective, ENISA recommends all encryption keys to be managed by Chief Security Officer (CSO). Additionally, other security measures includes educating all involved stakeholders on their roles to protect organizational data. With rise in cyber criminals, data protection and policies implementation does not work sufficiently, creating awareness to all employees on data theft and hackers is of impotence. In this case, all employees are aware of their roles and responsibilities in protecting data. Data threat trends is growing rapidly due to changing nature of technology (Gupta, 2015). Increase in data protection strategies has raised other measures of compromising information system that are not familiar to system owners. The trend of changing technology has made it difficult to handle systems security business law the nature of hacking has changed from real compromised of the system to sending of viruses that extract sensitive information while authorized users of the system are being authenticated. ETL process improvement There so many headaches that database administrators deal with on their line of duty. With increase in data growth, ETL processes have been taking long to complete due to fowling issues which are mainly attributed to various aspect (Rao et al, 2015). In this regard, performance issues on database can usually be attributed to ETL codes starting to increase system load. Some of the ways in which ETL database processing can be improved include but not limited to; when working with butch processing it is recommended to only pull the amount of data that is needed from system source. Though one can take a paramount approach to this and pull out all required data, it is important to compare all target with aim of comparing what changed in regard to additional memory and systems processing speed. Next, database administrators are cached on lookups in ETL tools against database large tables (EuroSPI Conference et al, 2017). Usually, lookups are quite useful for small database systems dimensio ns and code blocks. With large database tables, it would not be wise idea to have memory catch tables, recommended is using left outer joins in debatable queries. Similarly, when using ETL, database administrators should at all cost avoid row related processing tools. Instead, they should turn to an alternative of bulk loading available from ETL tools. This is because, it is highly recommended for use in large database scenarios. Moreover, in sources that make use of database, it is advisable to upload database table joins to specific applications. There are chances that, individual database is able to do inner joins more efficiently with use of ETL tools (Fauzi, 2012). Additionally, one should not make use of courser when working with ETL codes because courser have their own use which should be regularly scheduled in ETL processes. ETL is usually rewritten using logic codes. In this regard, ETL logic scheduling is meant to make sure there is full utilization of so many parallel thr eads for maximum utilization of system application. Consequently, there is a step by step at the end of the job processes to help in rebuilding database indexes in any of reporting tables. This makes all indexes created on data tables are optional and not for reports only but should include ETL processes downstream that are related to subject tables. Further, it would be quite hectic for an administrator to fail to upgrade and turn on Auto Statistics updates. In cases where subject database does not make use of Auto Statistics Update, it is important to turn it off for security purposes El (Akkaoui et al, 2011). Still, one should not forget to limit the number of CTEs and its related table joins and check whether data staging into data tables may be of any value to ETL processes. Finally, when using stored procedures in ETL operational processing, it is wise to copy all related input parameters into stored procedures. This is usually done because mostly, SQL has some problems of suffering from sniffing of parameters. To solve such pro blems, use of internal variable helps in mitigating these risks. ENISA current state of IT security IT security cannot be said to be in satisfactory state due to many lapses that has been experience from different parts of world include ENISA member states. Taking in consideration the rate in which cyber security is growing at, it would be quite absurd for ENISA member state to assume IT security is up to date and no action is needed to upgrade on the same. IT security problem is growing at alarming rate and need to be dealt with without taking breath (Great Britain, 2010). If ENISA members assume security is constant, they should reconsider their decision because cyber security gradually evolving with time and major milestones are being made by hackers and some other groups to advance their carriers as they try to compromise systems. Relenting on IT security war by any of the ENISA member state would mean allowing systems to be compromised by hackers without our knowledge because on their part, they are working daily in order to catch up security measures (Lovelace, 2015). Enactin g policies would not mean systems are safe. This is because policies works on criminals who have been identified. It is very clear that, identifying cybercriminal requires a lot of technical expertise and there is need to advance on security measures by implementing current technological ways to curb the problem. Furthermore, assuming technology advancement alone would work well poses a lot of treats to our systems. Educating organizational staff would be of great importance because they work on systems on daily basis. Being daily system users makes them important part of organizational assets because they should be able to detect any abnormality from within the system. In conclusion, ENISA member state should invest heavily on IT security in order to reap maximum from its policies and other security implementation strategy (Advances in Communications, 2013). Coming up with strict IT security riles would be a great boost for security implementation but this has to be done in regard to specific state. Failing to address specific member state problem and comparing it with all involved parties need would render al processes ineffective. Addressing each member state problem would give an opportunity to compare existing challenges in cyber security so that all set out programs would be quite diverse to ensure there is commonality in solving the problem. Joint effort is the key strategy in fighting IT security lapses and if members loose unity, it will be a total fail that no one member state can solve by itself. Having analyzed all security lapses and solutions available, it is now clear that, a lot of research is need from ENISA member state to ensure t here is common goal in fighting security lapses in technology (SmartGridSec (Workshop) In Cuellar, 2014). This should involve; developing common agenda in fighting IT security lapses, creating a common team of IT experts in cyber security to be on constant access and test of security lapses that might be thriving into the market. Creating awareness to all member states on rules and their responsibilities in solving cyber security problems.; References Advances in Communications. (2013). Plymouth: University of Plymouth Press. Akhgar, B., Brewster, B. (2016). Combatting cybercrime and cyberterrorism: Challenges, trends and priorities. Akhgar, B., In Brewster, B. (2016). Combatting cybercrime and cyberterrorism: Challenges,trends and priorities. Axelrod, C. W. (2013). Engineering safe and secure software systems. Norwood, MA: Artech House. Cruz-Cunha, M. M., In Portela, I. M., IGI Global. (2015). Handbook of research on digital crime, cyberspace security, and information assurance. El Akkaoui, Z., Zimnyi, E., Mazn, J. N., Trujillo, J. (2011). A model-driven framework for ETL process development. In Proceedings of the ACM 14th international workshop on Data Warehousing and OLAP (pp. 45-52). Accounting. EuroSPI (Conference), In Stolfa, J., In Stolfa, S., In O'Connor, R. V., In Messnarz, R. (2017) Systems, software and services process improvement: 24th European Conference, EuroSPI 2017, Ostrava, Czech Republic, September 6-8, 2017, Proceedings. Fauzi, S. S. M. (2012). Software process improvement and management: Approaches and toolsfor practical development. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference Felici, M., Fernandez-Gago, C. (2015). Accountability and security in the cloud: First Summer School, Cloud Accountability Project, A4Cloud, Malaga, Spain, June 2-6, 2014, Revised selected papers and lectures. Great Britain. (2010). Protecting Europe against large-scale cyber attacks: Report with evidence : 5th report of session 2009-10. London: Stationery Office. Gupta, M. (2015). Handbook of research on emerging developments in data privacy. Harwood, M. (2015). Security Strategies in Web Applications and Social Networking. Burlington: Jones Bartlett Learning, LLC. Information Resources Management Association. (2017). Identity theft: Breakthroughs in research and practice. Kerikmae, T. (2014). Regulating eTechnologies in the European Union: Normative realities andtrends. KORSTANJE, M. A. X. I. M. I. L. I. A. N. O. E. (2017). Threat mitigation and detection of cyber warfare and terrorism activities. HERSHEY: INFORMATION SCI REFER IGI. Lehto, M., Neittaanma?ki, P. (2015). Cyber security: Analytics, technology and automation. Lepofsky, R. (2014). The manager's guide to web application security: A concise guide to theweaker side of the web. Lovelace, D. C. (2015). The cyber threat. Rao, H. S., Chen, B. X., Li, W. G., Xu, Y. F., Chen, H. Y., Kuang, D. B., Su, C. Y. (2015).Improving the extraction of photogenerated electrons with SnO2 nanocolloids for efficient planar perovskite solar cells. Advanced Functional Materials, 25(46), 7200- 7207. SmartGridSec (Workshop), In Cuellar, J. (2014). Smart grid security: Second international workshop, SmartGridSec 2014, Munich, Germany, February 26, 2014, Revised selected papers. Tryfonas, T., Askoxylakis, I., International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. (2015). Human aspects of information security, privacy, and trust: Third international conference, HAS 2015, held as part of HCI International 2015, Los Angeles, CA, USA, August 2-7, 2015. Proceedings.

Audience Analysis Essay Example

Audience Analysis Essay Example Audience Analysis Essay Audience Analysis Essay Running Head: AUDIENCE ANALYSIS Audience Analysis COMM 285 University of Phoenix 7 August 2010 Audience analysis is the first step in any communication process: it gives you the tools you need to shape your product and your message. In order to communicate effectively with your audience, you need to understand who they are, what groups they belong to, and what values they hold.(Locker, Kienzler, 2008) The vice president of Ann Taylor Clothing Stores had a successful approach to dealing with and learning her target audience. She researched her target audience and then divided them into groups and developed a fashion line for each target. Creating information in this manner is not unheard of in the office environment. If a company followed Ms. Krillâ„ ¢s pattern they would see an increase in production and effectiveness, because the workers would have intimate knowledge of the targets. There are many decisions to take into affect when developing information for a target audience. Throughout the remainder of this paper we will discuss audience levels, individual analysis versu s group analysis, and channels of communication. These basic items will assist any individual or company with developing quality information that will be retained by the employees while yielding maximum effectiveness. AUDIENCE LEVELS The first step in audience analysis is to know or discover who your audience is. As explained in chapter two of Business and Administrative Communications, most organizations have multiple levels, so it is only right that there be varied levels of organizational messages. The first level of organizational messages is the gatekeeper. A gatekeeper has the power to stop your message instead of sending it on to other audiences. A gatekeeper is typically a supervisor or section director/head. The next level is the primary audience. The primary audience will decide whether to accept your recommendations or will act on the basis of your message. You must reach the primary audience to fulfill your purposes in any message. (Locker, Kienzler, 2008) The primary audience is normally a board or committee brought together for a specific project. The next audience level is the secondary audience will either comment or make plans based of the information received. Secondary audiences can be legal te ams, inspection teams, or sales representatives. The last two audience levels are the auxiliary audience and the watchdog audience. The auxiliary audience may read and review the message but have nothing to do with the information. An example of an auxiliary audience member would be a person from the logistics department reading a report from the training and development department. The last audience, the watchdog audience, has a political or social responsibility and monitors company business for integrity and trustworthiness. Once you decided the different audience levels one has to determine how they will address them, as individuals or as a group. Each will have a different set of challenges which will be discussed below. INDIVIUAL ANALYSIS vs. GROUP ANALYSIS As a speaker it is important to have background information on the people you will be addressing. Each individual being addressed will receive the information differently; it is impossible to please all listeners when presenting. Knowing a person age and skill level will often give a person a foundation to begin planning what format will be suit the listener. Also knowing a personal job requirement can be an asset when developing information. Though all parts of the information we are sharing is important and may play into one another, each member or section may only need a portion of the entire product to move to the next step. In our age of information technology supervisors have their preferred method of receiving information. Some may choose to receive information on spreadsheets and other my want power point slides. Knowing the main receiver will ensure information is set up to maximize their understanding. When dealing with a group demographics play a major role in disseminatio n of information. Knowing pay information is irrelevant when giving a briefing, but know the companyâ„ ¢s target demographics will be a huge help. Another aspect to take into consideration is dominant figures of a group. Not all members of a group have the same input or knowledge on all the information being discussed. All members should be aware of the all situation, but reality is that most are not set up to be that functional. COMMUNICATION CHANNELS A communication channel is the means by which you convey your message. Communication channels vary in speed, accuracy of transmission, cost, number of messages carried, number of people reached, efficiency, and ability to promote goodwill. (Locker, Kienzler, 2008) There are many types of communication channels that are used to disseminate information in a group setting. The most often used in an informal meeting, this type of setting is more relaxed. Minutes are not taken and attendance is not normally required. Informal meetings are rarely publicized and are mainly known by those attending. Informal meetings can be held by teleconference or by small group. There is normally one person guiding the meeting along but participants are allowed to comment at any point without introduction or permission. Informal meetings may also be held away from the office setting. Many decisions are made over lunch, breakfast, coffee, or tea. Formal meetings on the other hand, are preplanned and the to pics are normally predetermined. Formal meetings also have objectives that the mediator would like to achieve prior to the end of the meeting. Official correspondence is sent out well in advance to remind and request attendance to a formal meeting. This type of meeting are held by senior company executives and attended by department supervisors or directors. The ultimate goal of communication is to pass information from one medium to another. In business this theory has been narrowed from one individual, department, or company to another. The items mentioned above are not the total answer to effective communication but will lay a solid foundation for business communication. In summary, it is important to understand what audience levels will be attending a company meeting; of the five discussed our target will be within one of them. Once the audience levels have been determined the next step is to determine the individuals of meeting or the group as a whole. Group meeting in more general and will take less time. Having a basic understanding of each individual, if feasible, will better assist with information dissemination and product development. Lastly, having a good channel of communication is key to passing along a clear, simple to follow, accurate message. REFERENCES Locker, K, Kienzler, D. (2008). Business and administrative communication. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin

Impact of Cultural Differences on Healthcare Essays

Impact of Cultural Differences on Healthcare Essays Impact of Cultural Differences on Healthcare Paper Impact of Cultural Differences on Healthcare Paper Culture is defined as a particular way of living which incorporates beliefs, standards, values, language, behavioral norms, styles of communication and thinking patterns. Cultural diversity is evident in various manifestations such as language, ethnicity, religion and gender. Sometimes it is also evident by an individual’s level of education and even age. Consideration to differences in culture is important in the delivery of healthcare. This is because culture often determines an individual will respond to communication by a health professional which in turn has a bearing on the outcome of the patient’s condition. Sensitivity to cultural differences is necessary to ensure accurate and effective communication on the client’s health. Treating the patients with respect is not sufficient to avoid cultural problems.   It is necessary to also be familiar with various cultural customs so that misunderstandings can be avoided and health practitioners can provide their clients with better care. Galanti (2009) described a case where cultural issues were not considered resulting in a misunderstanding between the client and health care professionals. A Hispanic lady, had to give confirmed consent so that she could go a hysterectomy. The lady, Maria Ramirez,   being able to communicate in Hispanic only had her son serve as her interpreter as he was bilingual. The young man when describing the procedure seemed to be accurately translating as he indicated the correct body parts. The mother agreed to sign the consent form.   The next day, she learnt that she could not have children anymore because her uterus had been removed. She was very angry and even made threats to sue the hospital. In Hispanic culture it is not appropriate for a man and his mother to talk about private parts. The son, being in an awkward position told his mother that the surgery would involve removal of a tumor from her abdomen. He pointed in this general area. The Hispanic woman was upset because in Hispanic culture the status of a woman is derived largely from the children she can produce. The health care provider and management managed the situation by offering apologies, but the damage miscommunication had already occurred. Fortunately, the lady did not pursue the issue further, though for her it was a painful loss as she was not aware of what surgery she had agreed to.   In this case the appropriate thing to do would have been to not involve members of the family when discussing anything sexual with a client. If family members must be present, then the family members should be of the same gender to avoid embarrassment and miscommunication. In another incident, a woman called Susi in her thirties had a horse riding accident where the horse threw her off its back upon being startled by a snake. The woman fell on a stump and sustained massive injuries with internal bleeding. Upon being rushed to hospital, the surgical team found that she had bled into her abdomen severely and her kidney would have to be removed. The woman had a medical card which identified her as Jehovah’s Witness. It stated that she was not to be transfused, no matter what the circumstances. Despite knowing this, the physician, Dr Andrews, felt compelled by the Hippocratic Oath to transfuse her. Her husband could not be reached so the doctor proceeded with the transfusion, and in so doing saved the woman’s life. The woman however was not grateful; she instead sued the doctor for battery and assault. She won a $20,000 settlement (Galanti, 2009). A study conducted in the 1980s amongst Jehovah Witnesses indicated that they would sue if they were transfused. A physician, who finds himself in a situation where he/she finds it necessary to transfuse a Jehovah Witness, ought to think of the possible consequences by going against the patient’s will, especially the legal ones. In addition, by violating the wishes of the client in order to fulfill the Hippocratic Oath (which in this case is a personal belief), is an indication of arrogance and ethnocentricity. No group has the right to impose their beliefs on another. There lies in a danger in considering cultural differences when providing healthcare. This danger is one of stereotyping people. Even though someone may belong to a particular religion or ethnicity, everyone is unique and it would be dangerous to assume that â€Å"Chinese believe this† and â€Å"African Americans do this†. It is therefore necessary for health professionals to differentiate between generalizations and stereotypes. If upon meeting a Mexican woman, a doctor assumes she has a large family, that is a stereotype, but if the doctor says to himself/herself that, â€Å"Mexicans tend to have large families, I wonder if Maria has a large family†, then the doctor has generalized (Galanti, 2000). References   Galanti G, 2009, Cultural Diversity in Healthcare, retrieved from , ggalanti.com/case_studies/cases_by_topic.htm Saturday 19th December, 2009 Galanti G, 2000, An introduction to Cultural Differences, West J Med. 2000 May; 172(5): 335–336

Team Discussion on The Mar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Team Discussion on The Mar - Essay Example Murphy-Geiss cites that modernization has contributed to increases in poverty for women and children across the world and that traditional religious beliefs have played a factor in cultural shifts regarding marriage. Similar to Lewins article, it points out how modernization and globalization have essentially caused conflict between modern views on gender equality and the traditional views inspired by religious doctrine. I do, indeed, believe that globalization affect marriages, in many instances due to distorted value systems. For instance, companies use marketing tactics to emphasize the importance of product consumption as a means of enhancing lifestyle (Boone & Kurtz, 2006). As couples live in commercial and Westernized nations, they each will likely adopt their own values about material possessions. One partner may find them important, where another does not. This can cause problems with finance or frustrations over not having enough "things" to satisfy their desires. When commercialism and marketing (as outcomes of modernization) begin to impact the marriage, the health of the union is threatened. Several attempts to access the "dinosaur" quiz met with failure as the link was not available for access. However, the other quiz indicated that I barely had an average knowledge of marital statistics (The Case for Marriage Quiz). Also, I would have never guessed that only 9 percent of intimate violence against women was caused by husbands, as the media often says that spousal abuses in the form of sexual assaults, as one example, are often caused by the husband or boyfriend. I think this is a great statistic in terms of securing the future of the husband and wife relationship, as only 9 percent of violence in these marriages suggests that women will not necessarily be victims of husband aggression. The source of the data is extremely important in sociological research, as one must

America, the cold war, Reagan and the state of the country Essay

America, the cold war, Reagan and the state of the country - Essay Example It has a number of financial issues, several wars, and a climate of partisan hostility in Washington, D.C. But for all its faults, it has many things going for it. It is still the world's number one military superpower, in large part due to the work done by Reagan to build up these forces. Militarily, America is second to none. There is no credible enemy that America could not beat. Sadly, several of the problems faced by America today—in particular financial ones—are the products of leaders who have not listened to Reagan's vision of economics. The current president has not done enough to tackle public sector unions, as President Reagan triumphantly did in the 1980s. These unions are bankrupting America. This is a serious problem that Reagan was able to solve twenty years ago, but which has come back for a new generation to solve. Ronald Reagan was one of the greatest presidents America has ever had. He did not solve every problem, but he put America back on its path t o glory, after Jimmy Carter nearly derailed the whole process. Reagan was a modest and intelligent man who knew what was best for the United States.

The True Cost of Employment-at-will to American Employers Essay

The True Cost of Employment-at-will to American Employers - Essay Example In legal terms, employment-at-will refers to the employment contract that can be terminated for any reason (except for a few spelt out illegal reasons) and at any time either by the employee or the employer (Sentell and Robbins, 2008). The doctrine of employment-at-will avows that, in cases where the employee does not have an express or written employment contract and the employment term is of indefinite period, the employer can terminate the employee for no cause at all, bad cause, or good cause (ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, 2011). In the United States, at- will employee can be terminated for no reason at all, or for any reason, and at any time, and the courts cannot intervene to protect such an employee from employer’s alleged unfair treatment. Over the years, there has been raging debate among employers, employees, and policy- makers as to whether the doctrine of employment-at-will is really good for the United States or not. More specifically, employers have be en trying to evaluate the â€Å"goodness† of the doctrine to them, both in short and long run. This paper will evaluate the true cost of employment-at-will to American employers. Among the major industrial powers, the United States is the only bone that still maintains a general rule of employment-at-will. ... Some of the court rulings coupled with the scholarly writing on the scrapping of employment-at-will prompted most employers to think on the cost of the doctrine as well as its effectiveness. For example a law review article by Professor Lawrence Blades called for scrapping of the doctrine as it threatened the freedom of individual workers just like authoritarian government would do. As a result of this review article, courts recognized some kinds of exceptions to the doctrine; the exception of public policy being the most often- used. This exception allowed the judges to consider a dismissal as â€Å"unjust† if it was as a result of an employee exercising or upholding some public policy right (Blades, 1967). Muhl (2001) notes that recent years there has been revolutionary departure from the doctrine of employment-at-will especially based on the exception of the covenant-of-good-faith. This exception emphasizes on fair dealing and good faith as being very important in employmen t relationship. Courts that are using this exception usually rule that dismissal of employees should meet the standard of â€Å"just cause† and that such dismissals can be invalidated if they were done in bad faith or were inspired by malice (Roehling, 2003). In the light of evolution of employment-at-will doctrine, it is important to evaluate its true cost to the American employers in order to determine whether it is good for them or not. Willey (2009) explains that the proponents of the doctrine point to the essence of employer’s discretion in all the employment issues impacting his or her â€Å"business†. On the other hand, the opponents of the doctrine point out to the essence of defending the freedom of individuals and

Meeting Energy Demands of the Growing Population

Meeting Energy Demands of the Growing Population Literature review Nowadays, an important factor for economic and social development is energy sufficiency. Energy is the fuel of growth. Scientists predictions show that by the year 2050, energy demand will increase significantly due to the fact of the increasing population of the earth and that more buildings are going to be constructed. (Ref: Facts and trends, energy and climate, world business). A lot of predictions are published about how fast the population, the economy and the energy consumption of the world will increase in the years and decades to come. In reference to the matter of growth, development and energy demand, most of the predictions were wrongly made. Most predictions are reciprocally dependant on each other, and each one relies on many other factors. However, the only prediction that can be securely made is for the population and that the growth will be larger in the less development countries than the developed countries. (UNITED NATIONS) Developed countries are managing to improve the living conditions and decrease the death rates, but at the same time the birth rates have been decreasing at about the same rate over the last century. By this way the population growth is around 0.4% per year, in the industrialized world. On the other hand, less developed countries are managing their development and as a result have increased birth rates and decreased death rates. Consequently, their average population growth has increased from about 1% per year, from fifty years ago to about 2.1% per year today. At the moment, the worlds population is increasing at an annual rate of 1,7%, whereas the population in developed countries is around 1,2 billion (25% of the total) and in less developed countries is around 4 billion (75% of total world population). (United Nations) Population increases are directly connected with the energy demand and the building sector. It is therefore essential to develop new energy technologies on a massive scale for everyone to be able to survive on this planet. Ordinary buildings are unable to contribute to these essential needs, and cover the gush of the energy demand which is going to follow over the next decade. Energy use and climate impacts Power plants use fossil fuels for their energy productions and therefore this way cover the energy demands of the people. As a consequence though, from the burning of the fossil fuels, green house gases are produced and emitted into the atmosphere. As mentioned in the introduction, these anthropogenic activities have a significant contribution to the green house effect and the climate changes. Generally, in reference to the climate changes issues, scientists opinions are split into two. On the one hand, it is believed that the changes are part of the earths life and it is something normal which has been accelerated by our human activities and there is a possibility to stabilize the climate changes. On the other hand, it is believed that these changes are not normal and are going to make the world uninhabitable. For this reason, fast and immediate actions should be taken by all countries, targeting to reduce the energy demands and green house gases. It is almost definite that any of these actions will have a deep impact on the economy of each country. Many people believe that energy saving, means diminishing the current quality of living and reducing economy activity. In addition, economists believe that without economic growth, investments on technology will be reduced as it will difficult to confront climate changes. On the other hand, scientists argue that technological development is the key to the solution in reference to the climate changes problem. The truth is that, any solution in reference to climate changes will need an effort from everyone and investments on technological research and development, giving us this way a chance for a better future! IPCCs fourth assessment report further concluded that the building sector is not only the largest potential for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also that this potential is relatively independent of the cost per ton of CO2 eqv. achieved. With proven and commercially available technologies, the energy consumption in both new and old buildings can be cut by an estimated 30-50 percent without significantly increasing investment costs. Energy savings can be achieved through a range of measures including smart design, improved insulation, low-energy appliances, high efficiency ventilation and heating/cooling systems, and conservation behaviour from the buildings users. (Reference- IPCCs fourth assessment report) Summarising the above it is obvious that the population growth, economic development, human habits, way of living and environmental restrictions influence the energy demand around the world. Scientists and in general, the governments who are trying to give solutions to the big problem of the growing energy demands and its consequences, have to take into account all of these factors. Reshaping the energy future It is necessary for all countries to reshape the future of energy, as all scientific researches show. The actual word reshape, includes new innovation technologies and sources which are going to contribute to the energy needs of the world. It is necessary to find new paths which are further environmental friendly and will permit a better future. A lower carbon world is feasible in the next decade even during the next few years, if all countries can realize that significant changes that should be done. This especially applies to the developed countries as they have to reconsider and find a link between the quality of life and their energy consumption. It is necessary for everyone to understand that a high standard of living does not demand a high consumption of energy and to adapt to the new energy sources. The good news is that small changes in the energy scenery are now visible as many have started to be influenced. For example, the raised use of gas, the use of renewable energy on buildings, everyday life and high efficiency cars are some of the small steps that have been offered to people due to technological development. As figure three shows, the IPCC scenarios (A1B-AIM and B2-AIM) were based on the new technological achievements in the energy sector. It is definite that this evolution is not enough for our earths climate but the two scenarios predict a possible CO2 stabilization. Finally, efforts to create an energy efficient world are starting, in reference to low carbon technologies and effective measures. (Reference-world business facts and trends on climate change) As stated in the report of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) a lower carbon world would require a marked shift in the energy/development relationship, such as similar development levels to be achieved with an average of 30% less energy use. Both energy conservation through behavioural changes and energy efficiency via technology plays a role. Such a trend is a feature of the IPCC B1 storyline, which sees a future with a globally coherent approach to sustainable development. It describes a fast-changing and convergent world toward a service and information economy, with reductions in material intensity and the introduction of clean and resource efficient technologies. The scenario leads to relatively low GHG emissions, even without explicit interventions to manage climate change.'(Reference Energy and climate change, world business) A Sustainable World Energy Perspective An important key to the worlds energy problem is sustainable development. Sustainability includes the economic and technological development, which respect and protect the environment. Searching literature for an exact definition of sustainable development, guided us to the The Brundtland Report of the UN World Commission on Environment and Development. In this report a definition of sustainable development, is given: Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable – to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs However it is difficult to find exact definitions which represent the sustainable development accurately, due to the fact that it is an idea which involves too many parameters. (Reference Engineering_for_Sustainable_Development) It is amazing to see how the sustainable development concept, stays on important issues of discussion even with the passing of tweedy years from the Brundtland report. In this concept, development faces three important paths: the economic, the social and the environmental (figure 4). If governments want to meet these targets it is necessary to carry out innovative technologies and a socio-economic approach. Nevertheless, sustainable development is not the only problem and therefore it is always important to consider the three major paths. Protection of the environment, economic success and improvement of social conditions, will be the achievements of a flourishing sustainable development. These three paths are linked together for a sustainable development and their integration must be equal without any compromises. The goal of sustainable development is, to point out the importance of the environment to the public who are now alive and for the coming generations. It is important for everyone to understand that our existence depends on the global environment and every decision of this generation is going to affect the lives of our future generations. Thus for this goal to be achievable, it is necessary to take measures for low green house emissions, use renewable sources and improve the energy consumption of our current lives. Governments and engineers are searching for the best way to come within reach of this goal as it is very difficult for developed and developing countries to achieve it. Presently, the building sectors involvement is essential because of its deep impact on energy consumption, its significant emissions and its use of huge natural sources. The buildings that currently exist will continue to exist, for more than 30 years and therefore this influences the lives of future generations. A sustainable approach of this sector is necessary due to its rapid growth. The new approach for the buildings sector will include buildings which will need less energy to operate, produce low carbon emissions, use environmental friendly materials and produce their own energy from renewable sources. It is almost definite that the sustainable green development of the building sector will help countries accomplish the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, whilst also guarantee at the same time, the future for coming generations. Evolution of the buildings and the opportunity for change. As believed by many, buildings are our third skin and this plays an important role for humans to survive. From the beginning of human history, humans always aimed to try and protect themselves from all weather conditions and all changes, developing due to this, different kinds of shelters. Over the years, humans adapted and managed to survive all the different changes that have happened on earth. The question now, is what will happen whilst we are facing the rapid climate changes and what will be the future consequences? Hundreds of thousands year ago, people moved from place to place and tried to create the best conditions to live in. Depending on the place, whether hot or cold, humans developed different kind of shelters to protect themselves from the heat of the sun in the deserts, or the cold of the northern climates. Studies of these people movements over the years, shows us a big variety of shelters and developments of different ways in order to face the climate conditions. Other factors, which determine the humans survival techniques in extreme conditions from the past, like the lower attitude of the Arctic Circle, were the design of the buildings, the quality of clothes and the behavioural adaptations, like changing posture, activity level sand choosing the most comfortable space to occupy, by moving around rooms and buildings and landscapes; and then of course the use of energy from the burning of fossil fuels or the careful use of stored energy in heat or cold stores. (Adapting building cities for climate change) Another extraordinary point from past decades is the energy issue. People mainly used coal, wood and water to provide themselves with enough energy, whether in a passive or active manner and covered in this way, their need for heating or cooling. By taking advantage of the natural and available energy resources, humans managed to develop houses which were ready for all extreme weather conditions. All these extreme weather conditions made humans innovate new approaches for buildings, and provide them with a more comfortable life. An interesting approach of surviving all the climate changes is to move to different areas at the respective time of the year, which is when they are comfortable, and to leave them again when they are not – to migrate. (Adapting building cities for climate change) This approach is an impossible one to apply, in the modern way of life and the new cities. Nevertheless what could be extracted from the past is the expertise of the ancient people and the way they faced the climate changes. In our day and age, engineers and scientists use the knowledge from the past whilst at the same time search for new innovative approaches for the buildings. The evolution of the buildings sector involves the innovation of new technologies whilst the same time, protecting the environment and its natural sources. It is not just a matter of how to build or what to build but it is also a matter to make the buildings adaptable to the new challenges of the climate changes and energy efficient. This evolution is directly connected with the world surviving because buildings are part of the global environment which at the moment is in danger. As written in the book titled Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change the risk of not surviving in a particular building type and region will be largely dependent on the nature of that building and on how much the climate changes. Both are crucial in the challenge of designing buildings today in which people can be comfortable in 50 years time. At the point where the evolution of the building sectors began, there are great opportunities to change the current negative predictions of the climate changes. Significant reductions on energy consumption, better design, adequate technology and appropriate behaviours are some of the keys points which could accomplish the transformation of the buildings sector (figure 7). This transformation needs the participation and contribution from the businesses, the markets, the politicians and engineers. All together, they must act right away because the use of renewable sources is slowly growing and the energy demand is rapidly increasing, setting this way, tight deadlines in order to transform the sector. As it is mentioned in the Energy Efficiency, Buildings report and the IPPC 4th Assessment report, Residential and commercial buildings, action is essential as part of the worlds response to climate change because energy use in buildings is 30-40% of final energy consumption and carbon diox ide emissions in most countries. (Reference- Energy Efficiency in the Buildings report and the IPPC 4th Assessment report, Residential and commercial buildings) There are many opportunities to transform the buildings sector into the new era, as well as being feasible and applicable for old and new buildings. Significant energy reductions can be achieved by using new technologies, e.g. energy efficiency appliances, low consumption cooling systems etc, use of renewable sources, better design and operation and use of environmental friendly materials. Using these methods it will be possible to reduce the energy demand of up to two-thirds. Low-energy buildings must become the norm rather than the novelty project. (Reference- Energy Efficiency in the Buildings report) Beyond the opportunities given to change the buildings sector and stabilize the climate changes, this transformation will additionally contribute to the economy growth by giving new opportunities for jobs and businesses. (Reference- Energy Efficiency in the Buildings report)As already mentioned, the transformation will only succeed in the case where, building energy becomes a high priority to the governments and businesses leaderships, whilst cooperation between engineers, businesses and authorities is also established in reference to this issue.( Reference- Energy Efficiency in the Buildings report) Buildings types: characteristics and profiles Around the world, a vast variety of different types of buildings can be found, and each different type covers multiple and different needs. It is therefore essential at this point, to present the different types of buildings, as this report will focus on the buildings sector and the energy demands. Despite the fact that in the literature review, it is possible to find a plethora of terminology of the building types, nevertheless the general idea of this separation, of the buildings into categories is the same. Usually the separation of the buildings is a result of its use. It is very important to additionally mention at this point, that in most countries, many of the buildings were built before any energy regulation and these buildings will be around for at least the next 40 years. As figure 8 shows, in Europe, 50% of the buildings were built before 1975. Residential Buildings Residential buildings are commonly found all over the world. However, big and small differences can be found in all of them depending on the climate varieties of each country. For example, in hot climates the important need is for cooling and keeping the temperatures comfortable all over the house. This is achieved by the use of control systems, high insulation materials, shading systems and double or triple glazing. Additionally, this way, the energy demands and cost stays under control. In addition, a high use of passive or active solar systems is found in these hot climate countries. On the other hand, buildings in the cold climates have different needs to achieve temperature comfort. In these climates, the need for heating is essential but this is directly related with other parameters, such as low emissivity windows, good insulation materials and good design. It is very important in these climates, whilst designing, to consider the thermal mass of the building, as this may contr ibute during the night to the heating. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) Where residential buildings are concerned, it is easy to use renewable sources and cover the energy needs of a house because the demand is not so big. For example, photovoltaic systems can be used as the main source of energy, minimizing the CO2 emissions and the operation costs of the building. Non-Residential Buildings Non-Residential Buildings are also commonly located all over the world. In contrast with the Residential buildings, these kinds are appropriate for extreme hot or cold climates, without any access to utilities. As it is described in the Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines report of the U.S. Department of Energy these building types have a natural connection with the outdoors; and the structures present an opportunity to interpret the resource-conservation mission of the agency to the visiting public. These structures typically combine a need for window area, massive construction, and a tolerance for temperature swings—all of which are highly compatible with low-energy building design. Day lighting is another key strategy for deployment in these building types. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) However, the energy balance of a Non-Residential building is almost independent, from lighting and internal gain. A great opportunity on these kinds of buildings, is to apply the low energy methods and design, due to the fact that such buildings have low energy consumption. A visitor centre is a good example, of this kind of building, and usually they have big budgets allowing the choice of high tech materials and technologies. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) Urban Office Buildings Urban office buildings are usually located in the city centres because these buildings offer public services, to the people. As known, urbanization in most countries carries negative consequences for the city centres, for example, expensive land prices. Due to this fact, the design and use of these buildings must be compact and offer the maximum possible. The use of the building is generally defined by the services that are offered, and the space is then separated into offices and support facilities. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) Quite frequently, another characteristic of office buildings is their old style, as well as other restrictions, due to the fact that many countries conserve the old buildings in the city centres. Thus the changes for energy conservation or better energy performance on these buildings are limited and therefore it is difficult to apply low energy strategies. In addition, the development of the surrounding area and the high tower new buildings are an important factor, which influence the energy performance of an office building due to the shade provided. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) On the other hand, new urban office buildings have a great opportunity to save energy as new technologies and design can be afforded and are significant potentials. Another point which helps low energy designs to be applied on office buildings is the wide use of curtain walls, mainly in most of the downtown buildings. The problems which can occur from the use of this kind of buildings is lack of thermal comfort, lack of orientation and the overuse of glass enhance low energy buildings design. New approaches on the office buildings, has started to be applied and they are getting transformed into high technology buildings, which offer better services to the people who work there. A key factor of successful low energy office buildings is the placement of the private office at the back side of the building. As a result of this design, the artificial lighting will be reduced as natural lights are directed further into the buildings. This will have a significant impact not only for energy demands but also to the HVAC systems. Nevertheless, Urban Office Buildings demand a careful design which takes into account the climate, the orientation, the facade design, the HVAC, shading from the surrounding buildings and the complex interactions amongst lighting. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) All the above types of buildings constitute the common categories that serve the different human needs. However, there are many subcategories which are adapted specifically for each different climate and different needs. Energy impacts of the buildings The energy impacts of a building, is a very important factor to consider, in order to succeed with the design of low energy buildings. The different types of buildings and the differences between their energy demands, is the key for the development of zero energy buildings. As mentioned before, each type of building is designed for a specific use and to cover different needs. Starting with the residential buildings, studies show us, greater energy consumption than the commercial buildings. The report includes six different regions which are Brazil, China, Europe, India, Japan and the United States. During this report the residential sector is divided into two categories, consisting of the single family and the multi-family buildings, this way being able to focus on the energy performance for each case. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) Consumption Survey; Federcasa, Italian Housing Federation (2006), Housing Statistics of the European Union 2005/2006; Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2003), 2003 Housing and Land Survey (Japan); EEB core group research) (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) As the above figure shows (figure 9), single family buildings are more common in Brazil, India and the United States, in contrast with China, Europe and Japan where the single family buildings are at the same level as multifamily buildings. It is possible that in a few years, this global scenery will change and more multifamily buildings will be required, due to an increasing population of the earth and the growing urbanization in big countries. On the other hand, the development of the countries and economies will allow more people to get richer and own a single family house. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) Generally, the residential buildings tend to increase the energy demands all over the world. Unfortunately, the modern way of life includes extra comforts which are offered by the high technological appliances and the bigger buildings. As the quality of life increases, the energy consumption grows and more natural sources are needed to cover these human needs. Nevertheless, the energy demand is changing from country to country, as the climate and economy growth, are affecting peoples habits. (Figure 10) The above graph shows us that in six different regions, the economic growth and the climates have different impacts on the energy consumption of each country. For example, space heating is essential in Europe and China, in contrast with Japan and India where the use is low. Additionally in Japan, water heating is very important, whilst in other countries not so much. Another important point to notice on this graph, is cooking in India, as many areas do not have access to electricity therefore their main energy use, is cooking. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) Amongst the residential buildings, one big subcategory is the single family buildings. (Figure 11) All around the world, single family buildings have the greatest impact on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. In the developed countries, people tend to consume more energy at their homes, as they demand more comfort and have bigger spaces, better heating and cooling systems, artificial lighting and use more appliances. For example, whereas in Japan people tend to heat only one of the rooms instead of the whole house, but in Europe they tend to install central heating systems and heat the whole building. All these factors reflect the changes of peoples behaviour, as they become wealthier from the economic growth. It is a fact, that as more people will become wealthier the demand for single family homes will also increase, and the demand will then be greater than today, therefore increasing the energy consumptions. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) The issue of reducing consumption in single family buildings is not so simple. In general, all countries encounter serious barriers when it comes to taking effective measures for lower energy consumption. In Europe, many of the buildings that already exist, have an enormous challenge to retrofit these old buildings and apply low energy building principles. Definitely, these changes will cost money and everyone is interested in getting financial backing from the governments. Another issue at hand is to raise awareness, about all the changes that everyone needs to know about, especially with regards to the green technology and the proposed energy solutions which will cover their needs, and be easy to install. Unfortunately until now, the lack of information and financial measures has not helped the development of green technologies and designs for single family houses. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development mention that there are two key barriers to transforming what is currently a refurbishment market into an energy-efficient market: the first one is that people do not know where to find the relevant information on options, prices and suppliers; there are no one-stop shops for retrofitting and the second one is that homeowners base decisions largely on the first cost rather than overall financial returns. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) In developing countries, the biggest problem is the lack of regulations and mechanisms which would then force the people and the market to change. For example, in China the building codes are not effectively applied and in Brazil, 75% of the single homes are illegally built. In addition, developing countries as mentioned before have different needs to the developed countries, so the need to provide houses is more essential that the need to reduce energy consumption. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) In Japan and the US, the growing population is followed by high rates of constructions. This rapid development of the market causes huge problems to also then apply the green principles on a big scale. Another major problem in these countries is the big differences between the submarket which block, in some ways, the measures of low energy design. The key to the solution in these countries is strengthening their regulations, by giving more information to the public and changing their behaviour. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) In the cases of the multifamily buildings, which belong in Residential buildings sector, another approach is necessary for energy efficiency. These types of buildings are commonly located in cities where the urbanization problems are huge. In Europe, the US and Japan these buildings vary from very small to luxury apartments, so the energy demand is also varied. As referred to before, many of the buildings in the centre of the towns were built many years ago, so to achieve energy efficiency and apply the low energy principle is a great issue. In developing countries, incomes influence the preference for bigger houses and more energy consumption, therefore making a multifamily building a key factor for lower energy demand. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) Still, comparing single family homes with apartments, obviously the energy needs in an apartment are less due to their small size and space and lower exterior wall area. Looking at the example of the US (figure 12), apartments use almost half the heating energy and lighting energy than a single family house. In general, the energy profile of a single family house is much higher than that of the multifamily building. It is almost definite, that due to the increasing population the living standards in developing countries are growing fast which influences the energy demand. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) The office sector in most countries has a significant impact on the energy consumption. These kinds of buildings belong to the commercial buildings sector and they are one of the biggest categories, as they use large amounts of space and energy! The actual buildings, depending on their use, can be found having a great variety, which are from small single buildings to skyscrapers. Usually though, due to the rapid world development which demands more public services, the office buildings are newer rather than older buildings. In China, where technological developments and services increase rapidly, the office sectors are growing rapidly. Additionally, the technological developments influence and change ones working life as with new high technology, it is easier for some people to work from their homes. The results of these new trends, is the reduction of the floor space needed per person, having fewer large offices and more flexible space. All these factors influence the energy consump tion of an office building. Some other factors that affect the energy demand in office buildings are the same ones as the ones for Meeting Energy Demands of the Growing Population Meeting Energy Demands of the Growing Population Literature review Nowadays, an important factor for economic and social development is energy sufficiency. Energy is the fuel of growth. Scientists predictions show that by the year 2050, energy demand will increase significantly due to the fact of the increasing population of the earth and that more buildings are going to be constructed. (Ref: Facts and trends, energy and climate, world business). A lot of predictions are published about how fast the population, the economy and the energy consumption of the world will increase in the years and decades to come. In reference to the matter of growth, development and energy demand, most of the predictions were wrongly made. Most predictions are reciprocally dependant on each other, and each one relies on many other factors. However, the only prediction that can be securely made is for the population and that the growth will be larger in the less development countries than the developed countries. (UNITED NATIONS) Developed countries are managing to improve the living conditions and decrease the death rates, but at the same time the birth rates have been decreasing at about the same rate over the last century. By this way the population growth is around 0.4% per year, in the industrialized world. On the other hand, less developed countries are managing their development and as a result have increased birth rates and decreased death rates. Consequently, their average population growth has increased from about 1% per year, from fifty years ago to about 2.1% per year today. At the moment, the worlds population is increasing at an annual rate of 1,7%, whereas the population in developed countries is around 1,2 billion (25% of the total) and in less developed countries is around 4 billion (75% of total world population). (United Nations) Population increases are directly connected with the energy demand and the building sector. It is therefore essential to develop new energy technologies on a massive scale for everyone to be able to survive on this planet. Ordinary buildings are unable to contribute to these essential needs, and cover the gush of the energy demand which is going to follow over the next decade. Energy use and climate impacts Power plants use fossil fuels for their energy productions and therefore this way cover the energy demands of the people. As a consequence though, from the burning of the fossil fuels, green house gases are produced and emitted into the atmosphere. As mentioned in the introduction, these anthropogenic activities have a significant contribution to the green house effect and the climate changes. Generally, in reference to the climate changes issues, scientists opinions are split into two. On the one hand, it is believed that the changes are part of the earths life and it is something normal which has been accelerated by our human activities and there is a possibility to stabilize the climate changes. On the other hand, it is believed that these changes are not normal and are going to make the world uninhabitable. For this reason, fast and immediate actions should be taken by all countries, targeting to reduce the energy demands and green house gases. It is almost definite that any of these actions will have a deep impact on the economy of each country. Many people believe that energy saving, means diminishing the current quality of living and reducing economy activity. In addition, economists believe that without economic growth, investments on technology will be reduced as it will difficult to confront climate changes. On the other hand, scientists argue that technological development is the key to the solution in reference to the climate changes problem. The truth is that, any solution in reference to climate changes will need an effort from everyone and investments on technological research and development, giving us this way a chance for a better future! IPCCs fourth assessment report further concluded that the building sector is not only the largest potential for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also that this potential is relatively independent of the cost per ton of CO2 eqv. achieved. With proven and commercially available technologies, the energy consumption in both new and old buildings can be cut by an estimated 30-50 percent without significantly increasing investment costs. Energy savings can be achieved through a range of measures including smart design, improved insulation, low-energy appliances, high efficiency ventilation and heating/cooling systems, and conservation behaviour from the buildings users. (Reference- IPCCs fourth assessment report) Summarising the above it is obvious that the population growth, economic development, human habits, way of living and environmental restrictions influence the energy demand around the world. Scientists and in general, the governments who are trying to give solutions to the big problem of the growing energy demands and its consequences, have to take into account all of these factors. Reshaping the energy future It is necessary for all countries to reshape the future of energy, as all scientific researches show. The actual word reshape, includes new innovation technologies and sources which are going to contribute to the energy needs of the world. It is necessary to find new paths which are further environmental friendly and will permit a better future. A lower carbon world is feasible in the next decade even during the next few years, if all countries can realize that significant changes that should be done. This especially applies to the developed countries as they have to reconsider and find a link between the quality of life and their energy consumption. It is necessary for everyone to understand that a high standard of living does not demand a high consumption of energy and to adapt to the new energy sources. The good news is that small changes in the energy scenery are now visible as many have started to be influenced. For example, the raised use of gas, the use of renewable energy on buildings, everyday life and high efficiency cars are some of the small steps that have been offered to people due to technological development. As figure three shows, the IPCC scenarios (A1B-AIM and B2-AIM) were based on the new technological achievements in the energy sector. It is definite that this evolution is not enough for our earths climate but the two scenarios predict a possible CO2 stabilization. Finally, efforts to create an energy efficient world are starting, in reference to low carbon technologies and effective measures. (Reference-world business facts and trends on climate change) As stated in the report of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) a lower carbon world would require a marked shift in the energy/development relationship, such as similar development levels to be achieved with an average of 30% less energy use. Both energy conservation through behavioural changes and energy efficiency via technology plays a role. Such a trend is a feature of the IPCC B1 storyline, which sees a future with a globally coherent approach to sustainable development. It describes a fast-changing and convergent world toward a service and information economy, with reductions in material intensity and the introduction of clean and resource efficient technologies. The scenario leads to relatively low GHG emissions, even without explicit interventions to manage climate change.'(Reference Energy and climate change, world business) A Sustainable World Energy Perspective An important key to the worlds energy problem is sustainable development. Sustainability includes the economic and technological development, which respect and protect the environment. Searching literature for an exact definition of sustainable development, guided us to the The Brundtland Report of the UN World Commission on Environment and Development. In this report a definition of sustainable development, is given: Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable – to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs However it is difficult to find exact definitions which represent the sustainable development accurately, due to the fact that it is an idea which involves too many parameters. (Reference Engineering_for_Sustainable_Development) It is amazing to see how the sustainable development concept, stays on important issues of discussion even with the passing of tweedy years from the Brundtland report. In this concept, development faces three important paths: the economic, the social and the environmental (figure 4). If governments want to meet these targets it is necessary to carry out innovative technologies and a socio-economic approach. Nevertheless, sustainable development is not the only problem and therefore it is always important to consider the three major paths. Protection of the environment, economic success and improvement of social conditions, will be the achievements of a flourishing sustainable development. These three paths are linked together for a sustainable development and their integration must be equal without any compromises. The goal of sustainable development is, to point out the importance of the environment to the public who are now alive and for the coming generations. It is important for everyone to understand that our existence depends on the global environment and every decision of this generation is going to affect the lives of our future generations. Thus for this goal to be achievable, it is necessary to take measures for low green house emissions, use renewable sources and improve the energy consumption of our current lives. Governments and engineers are searching for the best way to come within reach of this goal as it is very difficult for developed and developing countries to achieve it. Presently, the building sectors involvement is essential because of its deep impact on energy consumption, its significant emissions and its use of huge natural sources. The buildings that currently exist will continue to exist, for more than 30 years and therefore this influences the lives of future generations. A sustainable approach of this sector is necessary due to its rapid growth. The new approach for the buildings sector will include buildings which will need less energy to operate, produce low carbon emissions, use environmental friendly materials and produce their own energy from renewable sources. It is almost definite that the sustainable green development of the building sector will help countries accomplish the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, whilst also guarantee at the same time, the future for coming generations. Evolution of the buildings and the opportunity for change. As believed by many, buildings are our third skin and this plays an important role for humans to survive. From the beginning of human history, humans always aimed to try and protect themselves from all weather conditions and all changes, developing due to this, different kinds of shelters. Over the years, humans adapted and managed to survive all the different changes that have happened on earth. The question now, is what will happen whilst we are facing the rapid climate changes and what will be the future consequences? Hundreds of thousands year ago, people moved from place to place and tried to create the best conditions to live in. Depending on the place, whether hot or cold, humans developed different kind of shelters to protect themselves from the heat of the sun in the deserts, or the cold of the northern climates. Studies of these people movements over the years, shows us a big variety of shelters and developments of different ways in order to face the climate conditions. Other factors, which determine the humans survival techniques in extreme conditions from the past, like the lower attitude of the Arctic Circle, were the design of the buildings, the quality of clothes and the behavioural adaptations, like changing posture, activity level sand choosing the most comfortable space to occupy, by moving around rooms and buildings and landscapes; and then of course the use of energy from the burning of fossil fuels or the careful use of stored energy in heat or cold stores. (Adapting building cities for climate change) Another extraordinary point from past decades is the energy issue. People mainly used coal, wood and water to provide themselves with enough energy, whether in a passive or active manner and covered in this way, their need for heating or cooling. By taking advantage of the natural and available energy resources, humans managed to develop houses which were ready for all extreme weather conditions. All these extreme weather conditions made humans innovate new approaches for buildings, and provide them with a more comfortable life. An interesting approach of surviving all the climate changes is to move to different areas at the respective time of the year, which is when they are comfortable, and to leave them again when they are not – to migrate. (Adapting building cities for climate change) This approach is an impossible one to apply, in the modern way of life and the new cities. Nevertheless what could be extracted from the past is the expertise of the ancient people and the way they faced the climate changes. In our day and age, engineers and scientists use the knowledge from the past whilst at the same time search for new innovative approaches for the buildings. The evolution of the buildings sector involves the innovation of new technologies whilst the same time, protecting the environment and its natural sources. It is not just a matter of how to build or what to build but it is also a matter to make the buildings adaptable to the new challenges of the climate changes and energy efficient. This evolution is directly connected with the world surviving because buildings are part of the global environment which at the moment is in danger. As written in the book titled Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change the risk of not surviving in a particular building type and region will be largely dependent on the nature of that building and on how much the climate changes. Both are crucial in the challenge of designing buildings today in which people can be comfortable in 50 years time. At the point where the evolution of the building sectors began, there are great opportunities to change the current negative predictions of the climate changes. Significant reductions on energy consumption, better design, adequate technology and appropriate behaviours are some of the keys points which could accomplish the transformation of the buildings sector (figure 7). This transformation needs the participation and contribution from the businesses, the markets, the politicians and engineers. All together, they must act right away because the use of renewable sources is slowly growing and the energy demand is rapidly increasing, setting this way, tight deadlines in order to transform the sector. As it is mentioned in the Energy Efficiency, Buildings report and the IPPC 4th Assessment report, Residential and commercial buildings, action is essential as part of the worlds response to climate change because energy use in buildings is 30-40% of final energy consumption and carbon diox ide emissions in most countries. (Reference- Energy Efficiency in the Buildings report and the IPPC 4th Assessment report, Residential and commercial buildings) There are many opportunities to transform the buildings sector into the new era, as well as being feasible and applicable for old and new buildings. Significant energy reductions can be achieved by using new technologies, e.g. energy efficiency appliances, low consumption cooling systems etc, use of renewable sources, better design and operation and use of environmental friendly materials. Using these methods it will be possible to reduce the energy demand of up to two-thirds. Low-energy buildings must become the norm rather than the novelty project. (Reference- Energy Efficiency in the Buildings report) Beyond the opportunities given to change the buildings sector and stabilize the climate changes, this transformation will additionally contribute to the economy growth by giving new opportunities for jobs and businesses. (Reference- Energy Efficiency in the Buildings report)As already mentioned, the transformation will only succeed in the case where, building energy becomes a high priority to the governments and businesses leaderships, whilst cooperation between engineers, businesses and authorities is also established in reference to this issue.( Reference- Energy Efficiency in the Buildings report) Buildings types: characteristics and profiles Around the world, a vast variety of different types of buildings can be found, and each different type covers multiple and different needs. It is therefore essential at this point, to present the different types of buildings, as this report will focus on the buildings sector and the energy demands. Despite the fact that in the literature review, it is possible to find a plethora of terminology of the building types, nevertheless the general idea of this separation, of the buildings into categories is the same. Usually the separation of the buildings is a result of its use. It is very important to additionally mention at this point, that in most countries, many of the buildings were built before any energy regulation and these buildings will be around for at least the next 40 years. As figure 8 shows, in Europe, 50% of the buildings were built before 1975. Residential Buildings Residential buildings are commonly found all over the world. However, big and small differences can be found in all of them depending on the climate varieties of each country. For example, in hot climates the important need is for cooling and keeping the temperatures comfortable all over the house. This is achieved by the use of control systems, high insulation materials, shading systems and double or triple glazing. Additionally, this way, the energy demands and cost stays under control. In addition, a high use of passive or active solar systems is found in these hot climate countries. On the other hand, buildings in the cold climates have different needs to achieve temperature comfort. In these climates, the need for heating is essential but this is directly related with other parameters, such as low emissivity windows, good insulation materials and good design. It is very important in these climates, whilst designing, to consider the thermal mass of the building, as this may contr ibute during the night to the heating. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) Where residential buildings are concerned, it is easy to use renewable sources and cover the energy needs of a house because the demand is not so big. For example, photovoltaic systems can be used as the main source of energy, minimizing the CO2 emissions and the operation costs of the building. Non-Residential Buildings Non-Residential Buildings are also commonly located all over the world. In contrast with the Residential buildings, these kinds are appropriate for extreme hot or cold climates, without any access to utilities. As it is described in the Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines report of the U.S. Department of Energy these building types have a natural connection with the outdoors; and the structures present an opportunity to interpret the resource-conservation mission of the agency to the visiting public. These structures typically combine a need for window area, massive construction, and a tolerance for temperature swings—all of which are highly compatible with low-energy building design. Day lighting is another key strategy for deployment in these building types. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) However, the energy balance of a Non-Residential building is almost independent, from lighting and internal gain. A great opportunity on these kinds of buildings, is to apply the low energy methods and design, due to the fact that such buildings have low energy consumption. A visitor centre is a good example, of this kind of building, and usually they have big budgets allowing the choice of high tech materials and technologies. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) Urban Office Buildings Urban office buildings are usually located in the city centres because these buildings offer public services, to the people. As known, urbanization in most countries carries negative consequences for the city centres, for example, expensive land prices. Due to this fact, the design and use of these buildings must be compact and offer the maximum possible. The use of the building is generally defined by the services that are offered, and the space is then separated into offices and support facilities. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) Quite frequently, another characteristic of office buildings is their old style, as well as other restrictions, due to the fact that many countries conserve the old buildings in the city centres. Thus the changes for energy conservation or better energy performance on these buildings are limited and therefore it is difficult to apply low energy strategies. In addition, the development of the surrounding area and the high tower new buildings are an important factor, which influence the energy performance of an office building due to the shade provided. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) On the other hand, new urban office buildings have a great opportunity to save energy as new technologies and design can be afforded and are significant potentials. Another point which helps low energy designs to be applied on office buildings is the wide use of curtain walls, mainly in most of the downtown buildings. The problems which can occur from the use of this kind of buildings is lack of thermal comfort, lack of orientation and the overuse of glass enhance low energy buildings design. New approaches on the office buildings, has started to be applied and they are getting transformed into high technology buildings, which offer better services to the people who work there. A key factor of successful low energy office buildings is the placement of the private office at the back side of the building. As a result of this design, the artificial lighting will be reduced as natural lights are directed further into the buildings. This will have a significant impact not only for energy demands but also to the HVAC systems. Nevertheless, Urban Office Buildings demand a careful design which takes into account the climate, the orientation, the facade design, the HVAC, shading from the surrounding buildings and the complex interactions amongst lighting. (Low-Energy Building Design Guidelines) All the above types of buildings constitute the common categories that serve the different human needs. However, there are many subcategories which are adapted specifically for each different climate and different needs. Energy impacts of the buildings The energy impacts of a building, is a very important factor to consider, in order to succeed with the design of low energy buildings. The different types of buildings and the differences between their energy demands, is the key for the development of zero energy buildings. As mentioned before, each type of building is designed for a specific use and to cover different needs. Starting with the residential buildings, studies show us, greater energy consumption than the commercial buildings. The report includes six different regions which are Brazil, China, Europe, India, Japan and the United States. During this report the residential sector is divided into two categories, consisting of the single family and the multi-family buildings, this way being able to focus on the energy performance for each case. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) Consumption Survey; Federcasa, Italian Housing Federation (2006), Housing Statistics of the European Union 2005/2006; Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2003), 2003 Housing and Land Survey (Japan); EEB core group research) (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) As the above figure shows (figure 9), single family buildings are more common in Brazil, India and the United States, in contrast with China, Europe and Japan where the single family buildings are at the same level as multifamily buildings. It is possible that in a few years, this global scenery will change and more multifamily buildings will be required, due to an increasing population of the earth and the growing urbanization in big countries. On the other hand, the development of the countries and economies will allow more people to get richer and own a single family house. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) Generally, the residential buildings tend to increase the energy demands all over the world. Unfortunately, the modern way of life includes extra comforts which are offered by the high technological appliances and the bigger buildings. As the quality of life increases, the energy consumption grows and more natural sources are needed to cover these human needs. Nevertheless, the energy demand is changing from country to country, as the climate and economy growth, are affecting peoples habits. (Figure 10) The above graph shows us that in six different regions, the economic growth and the climates have different impacts on the energy consumption of each country. For example, space heating is essential in Europe and China, in contrast with Japan and India where the use is low. Additionally in Japan, water heating is very important, whilst in other countries not so much. Another important point to notice on this graph, is cooking in India, as many areas do not have access to electricity therefore their main energy use, is cooking. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) Amongst the residential buildings, one big subcategory is the single family buildings. (Figure 11) All around the world, single family buildings have the greatest impact on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. In the developed countries, people tend to consume more energy at their homes, as they demand more comfort and have bigger spaces, better heating and cooling systems, artificial lighting and use more appliances. For example, whereas in Japan people tend to heat only one of the rooms instead of the whole house, but in Europe they tend to install central heating systems and heat the whole building. All these factors reflect the changes of peoples behaviour, as they become wealthier from the economic growth. It is a fact, that as more people will become wealthier the demand for single family homes will also increase, and the demand will then be greater than today, therefore increasing the energy consumptions. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) The issue of reducing consumption in single family buildings is not so simple. In general, all countries encounter serious barriers when it comes to taking effective measures for lower energy consumption. In Europe, many of the buildings that already exist, have an enormous challenge to retrofit these old buildings and apply low energy building principles. Definitely, these changes will cost money and everyone is interested in getting financial backing from the governments. Another issue at hand is to raise awareness, about all the changes that everyone needs to know about, especially with regards to the green technology and the proposed energy solutions which will cover their needs, and be easy to install. Unfortunately until now, the lack of information and financial measures has not helped the development of green technologies and designs for single family houses. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development mention that there are two key barriers to transforming what is currently a refurbishment market into an energy-efficient market: the first one is that people do not know where to find the relevant information on options, prices and suppliers; there are no one-stop shops for retrofitting and the second one is that homeowners base decisions largely on the first cost rather than overall financial returns. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) In developing countries, the biggest problem is the lack of regulations and mechanisms which would then force the people and the market to change. For example, in China the building codes are not effectively applied and in Brazil, 75% of the single homes are illegally built. In addition, developing countries as mentioned before have different needs to the developed countries, so the need to provide houses is more essential that the need to reduce energy consumption. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) In Japan and the US, the growing population is followed by high rates of constructions. This rapid development of the market causes huge problems to also then apply the green principles on a big scale. Another major problem in these countries is the big differences between the submarket which block, in some ways, the measures of low energy design. The key to the solution in these countries is strengthening their regulations, by giving more information to the public and changing their behaviour. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) In the cases of the multifamily buildings, which belong in Residential buildings sector, another approach is necessary for energy efficiency. These types of buildings are commonly located in cities where the urbanization problems are huge. In Europe, the US and Japan these buildings vary from very small to luxury apartments, so the energy demand is also varied. As referred to before, many of the buildings in the centre of the towns were built many years ago, so to achieve energy efficiency and apply the low energy principle is a great issue. In developing countries, incomes influence the preference for bigger houses and more energy consumption, therefore making a multifamily building a key factor for lower energy demand. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) Still, comparing single family homes with apartments, obviously the energy needs in an apartment are less due to their small size and space and lower exterior wall area. Looking at the example of the US (figure 12), apartments use almost half the heating energy and lighting energy than a single family house. In general, the energy profile of a single family house is much higher than that of the multifamily building. It is almost definite, that due to the increasing population the living standards in developing countries are growing fast which influences the energy demand. (Reference- energy efficiency in buildings –market) The office sector in most countries has a significant impact on the energy consumption. These kinds of buildings belong to the commercial buildings sector and they are one of the biggest categories, as they use large amounts of space and energy! The actual buildings, depending on their use, can be found having a great variety, which are from small single buildings to skyscrapers. Usually though, due to the rapid world development which demands more public services, the office buildings are newer rather than older buildings. In China, where technological developments and services increase rapidly, the office sectors are growing rapidly. Additionally, the technological developments influence and change ones working life as with new high technology, it is easier for some people to work from their homes. The results of these new trends, is the reduction of the floor space needed per person, having fewer large offices and more flexible space. All these factors influence the energy consump tion of an office building. Some other factors that affect the energy demand in office buildings are the same ones as the ones for