Christina J. Hopfe Books

Passivhaus is the fastest growing energy performance standard in the world, with almost 50,000 buildings realised to date. Applicable to both domestic and non-domestic building types, the strength of Passivhaus lies in the simplicity of the concept. As European and global energy directives move ever closer towards Zero (fossil) Energy standards, Passivhaus provides a robust ‘fabric first’ approach from which to make the next step. The Passivhaus Designers Manual is the most comprehensive technical guide available to those wishing to design and build Passivhaus and Zero Energy Buildings. As a technical reference for architects, engineers and construction professionals The Passivhaus Designers Manual Lavishly illustrated with nearly 200 full colour illustrations, and presented by two highly experienced specialists, this is your one-stop shop for comprehensive practical information on Passivhaus and Zero Energy buildings.

The 15th International Conference on Applications of Natural Language to Information Systems (NLDB 2010) was held from June 23–25 in Cardiff, UK. Since its inception in 1995, the conference has aimed to unite researchers, industry professionals, and potential users interested in the applications of natural language within the database and information system domains. Reflecting the increasing significance of accessing information from diverse sources such as the Web, databases, sensors, and the cloud, this year's theme was "Communicating with Anything, Anywhere in Natural Language." Natural languages and databases are vital in developing information systems, with natural language processing (NLP) techniques enhancing various phases of the information system lifecycle—from requirement analysis and validation to conflict resolution and result presentation. Additionally, natural language-based query languages and user interfaces improve information access for users and introduce new paradigms in computerized services. Key topics included information retrieval, software engineering applications, hidden Markov models, natural language interfaces, and semantic networks, highlighting the integration of databases, information retrieval, and NLP techniques.