Waking up to a fire - optimising the smoke alarm signal. On any one night a significant proportion of the population is at risk of sleeping through the current smoke alarm in a fire emergency. Significant risk factors for not awakening include being a child, sleep deprivation, being a heavy sleeper, use of sleeping tablets, alcohol intoxication, and being aged over 60. Yet research suggests that a different alarm signal will awaken these groups more effectively at a lower volume. This innovati ....Waking up to a fire - optimising the smoke alarm signal. On any one night a significant proportion of the population is at risk of sleeping through the current smoke alarm in a fire emergency. Significant risk factors for not awakening include being a child, sleep deprivation, being a heavy sleeper, use of sleeping tablets, alcohol intoxication, and being aged over 60. Yet research suggests that a different alarm signal will awaken these groups more effectively at a lower volume. This innovative project will determine the best signal, with important implications for community public safety, fire safety engineers, the smoke alarm industry and our theoretical understanding of cognitive processing during sleep.Read moreRead less
Residential Air Conditioning, Comfort and Demand Response in Australia. Rapid growth in residential air conditioning (AC) ownership will potentially undermine national energy efficiency and greenhouse reduction targets. Furthermore, residential AC is placing a strain on the national electricity system, especially during heat waves when electricity demand peaks. These AC-driven peak loads occur occasionally each summer, but increasing grid capacity to meet them represents a grossly inefficient in ....Residential Air Conditioning, Comfort and Demand Response in Australia. Rapid growth in residential air conditioning (AC) ownership will potentially undermine national energy efficiency and greenhouse reduction targets. Furthermore, residential AC is placing a strain on the national electricity system, especially during heat waves when electricity demand peaks. These AC-driven peak loads occur occasionally each summer, but increasing grid capacity to meet them represents a grossly inefficient infrastructure investment. This project will generate Australia's most comprehensive data set on exactly how, when, where, and why residential AC systems are being used. The outcomes will provide a solid platform on which national electricity demand management and AC greenhouse-gas mitigation strategies can be designed.Read moreRead less