Environmental Design Commons^™

Aesthetic Theory And Interior Design Pedagogy, Ji Young Cho, Benyamin Schwarz

Ji Young Cho

No abstract provided.

Narrowing Gaps Between Research And Policy Development In Climate Change Adaptation Work In The Water Resources And Agriculture Sectors Of Cambodia, Dany Va, Bhishna Bajracharya, Loius Lebel, Michael Regan, Ros Taplin

Michael Regan

Narrowing research and policy, while challenging, is especially important in climate change adaptation work (CCA) due to the high uncertainties involved in planning for climate change. This article aims to seek stakeholders’ opinions regarding how research and policy development can be bridged within the Cambodian water resources and agriculture sectors. The study used institutional ethnography methods with informants from government organizations, local academia, and development partners (DPs). This article identifies a number of challenges, and barriers for narrowing research–policy development gaps, including: limited effectiveness of governmental policies and planning; lack of relevant information required to promote evidence-based planning and policy …

Narrowing Gaps Between Research And Policy Development In Climate Change Adaptation Work In The Water Resources And Agriculture Sectors Of Cambodia, Dany Va, Bhishna Bajracharya, Loius Lebel, Michael Regan, Ros Taplin

Bhishna Bajracharya

Narrowing research and policy, while challenging, is especially important in climate change adaptation work (CCA) due to the high uncertainties involved in planning for climate change. This article aims to seek stakeholders’ opinions regarding how research and policy development can be bridged within the Cambodian water resources and agriculture sectors. The study used institutional ethnography methods with informants from government organizations, local academia, and development partners (DPs). This article identifies a number of challenges, and barriers for narrowing research–policy development gaps, including: limited effectiveness of governmental policies and planning; lack of relevant information required to promote evidence-based planning and policy …

Narrowing Gaps Between Research And Policy Development In Climate Change Adaptation Work In The Water Resources And Agriculture Sectors Of Cambodia, Dany Va, Bhishna Bajracharya, Loius Lebel, Michael Regan, Ros Taplin

Dany Va

Narrowing research and policy, while challenging, is especially important in climate change adaptation work (CCA) due to the high uncertainties involved in planning for climate change. This article aims to seek stakeholders’ opinions regarding how research and policy development can be bridged within the Cambodian water resources and agriculture sectors. The study used institutional ethnography methods with informants from government organizations, local academia, and development partners (DPs). This article identifies a number of challenges, and barriers for narrowing research–policy development gaps, including: limited effectiveness of governmental policies and planning; lack of relevant information required to promote evidence-based planning and policy …

Measuring Good Architecture: Long Life, Loose Fit, Low Energy, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Good architecture is something that we all seek, but which is difficult to define. Sir Alexander John Gordon, in his role as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, defined ‘good architecture’ in 1972 as buildings that exhibit ‘long life, loose fit and low energy’. These characteristics, nicknamed by Gordon as the 3L Principle, are measurable. Furthermore, life cycle cost (LCC) provides a method for accessing the economic contribution or burden created by buildings to the society they aim to serve. Yet there is no research available to investigate the connection, if any, between 3L and LCC. It might …

Designing For Better Building Adaptability: A Comparison Of Adaptstar And Arp Models, Sheila Conejos, Craig Langston, Jim Smith

Craig Langston

Can sustainability and adaptability be integrated in a single decision tool for designing future buildings? Indeed, it is not possible to know what lies ahead for future buildings but, using current research on sustainability and the impact on natural resources and climate, it is possible to forecast the connection between built environment activity and sustainability. This paper demonstrates that the assessment of future adaptation in newly designed building is achievable by using the adaptSTAR model. This new design-rating tool, based on detailed analysis of 12 award-winning adaptive reuse projects in Australia, will assist designers in making decisions to achieve optimum …

Daytime And Nighttime Uhi Statistical Models For Atlanta, Bumseok Chun, Subhrajit Guhathakurta

Bumseok Chun

No abstract provided.

Sustainability: Its Adaptation And Relevance In Remote Area Housing, Rosemary Rusch, Rick Best

Rick Best

Little consideration has been given to the context of housing in remote areas. It is important for the economic survival of many remote communities that appropriate and sustainable housing solutions are decided and implemented. This report examines housing at St Pauls, Moa Island in the Torres Strait, using site information, historical research and a review of cultural and geo-political factors to compare the current model with similar studies in self-build housing undertaken in the region between 1986 and 1992. It not only demonstrates tangible economic benefits, but also evaluates the environmental and social improvements which can be achieved with a …

Mcda And Assessing Sustainability, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Extract: Multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a contemporary alternative social cost-benefit analysis as a means of evaluating sustainable development. It avoids the problem of converting social and environmental performance into monetary terms simply so it can be combined with tangible costs and benefits and included in a discounted cash flow.

Critical Success Factors For Building Maintenance Business: A Hong Kong Case Study, Yongtao Tan, Li-Yen Shen, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the critical success factors (CSFs) for engaging in the building maintenance business in Hong Kong where maintenance is a major market sector. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, CSFs are identified for the business of building maintenance based on data collected from a questionnaire survey and interviews. Findings - A total of 12 CSFs are identified, such as client's satisfaction, certification of company, reliability of service, quality of service, and company reputation, and most are related to two principal factors, namely maintenance service and organization, and project management. Originality/value - This …

Construction Efficiency: A Tale Of Two Developed Countries, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Purpose - The measurement of construction performance is a vexed problem. Despite much research effort, there remains little agreement over what to measure and how to measure it. The problem is made even more complicated by the desire to benchmark national industry performance against that of other countries. As clearly construction cost forms part of the analysis, the mere adjustment of cost data to an "international currency" has undermined past attempts to draw any meaningful conclusions. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - This paper introduces a new method for comparing international construction efficiency, tested on a data …

Adaptive Reuse Of Traditional Chinese Shophouses In Government-Led Urban Renewal Projects In Hong Kong, Esther Yung, Craig Langston, Edwin Chan

Craig Langston

Conservationists and government authorities acknowledge that adaptive reuse of historic buildings contributes to urban sustainability. Traditional Chinese shophouses are a major historic building typology found in the old districts of Asian cities. In Hong Kong, the few remaining shophouses are generally deteriorating and are increasingly under threat of demolition for urban renewal. However, adaptive reuse of these buildings has created many social concerns. In light of these concerns, evaluating adaptive reuse potential needs to incorporate a much broader sustainability framework than simply physical building conditions. This study examines the extent to which obsolescence, heritage value and redevelopment pressures have affected …

Designing For Future Adaptive Reuse, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Extract: Existing buildings that are either obsolete or rapidly approaching disuse and potential demolition are a 'mine' of raw materials for new projects, a concept described by Chusid (1993) as 'urban ore'.

Eco Living, Chris Knapp

Chris Knapp

Combining sustainability with trend-setting design is one of the great challenges of contemporary architecture. Resource sparing living space is one of the most important themes. In addition to the increased consciousness of the interactions between the human being, his built environment and eco system, the desire to leave behind an intact environment worth living in for the next generation and to fashion a healthy environment for oneself are also factors gaining in economic significance. Depending on the building project and its circumstances, procedures and techniques of ecological building may be applied. Building orientation, shape, the type of materials and building …

Developing A Sustainable Campus Through Community Engagement: An Empirical Study, Linda Too, Bhishna Bajracharya, Isara Khanjanasthiti

Linda Too

Sustainability is increasingly a basic tenet within the organisational philosophy of many universities. While those universities that have a sustainability strategy have largely focused on operational improvements, the engagement of staff and students is equally important for creating a sustainable campus. This paper develops a 6-P community engagement framework for promoting eco-centric practices within university campuses. The objective of the study is to apply the framework to a university community in order to establish the validity of this framework. To this end, interviews with staff and students at Bond University were undertaken. The interviews reveal that the 6-P framework is …

Developing A Sustainable Campus Through Community Engagement: An Empirical Study, Linda Too, Bhishna Bajracharya, Isara Khanjanasthiti

Bhishna Bajracharya

Sustainability is increasingly a basic tenet within the organisational philosophy of many universities. While those universities that have a sustainability strategy have largely focused on operational improvements, the engagement of staff and students is equally important for creating a sustainable campus. This paper develops a 6-P community engagement framework for promoting eco-centric practices within university campuses. The objective of the study is to apply the framework to a university community in order to establish the validity of this framework. To this end, interviews with staff and students at Bond University were undertaken. The interviews reveal that the 6-P framework is …

A Fuzzy Approach For Adaptive Reuse Selection Of Industrial Buildings In Hong Kong, Yongtao Tan, Li-Yin Shen, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

With rapid economic development and restructuring, there are an increasing number of aged or obsolete buildings in large cities, such as Hong Kong. Adaptive reuse of these buildings provides an alternative for property stakeholders towards more sustainable practices instead of redevelopment or destruction. Adaptive reuse can also make great contributions to sustainable development by reducing construction waste and saving natural resources. As a result of industrial restructuring, manufacturing plants were migrated from Hong Kong to Mainland China during the 1980s and 1990s. Many industrial buildings then became vacant or under-utilised. Adaptive reuse of these industrial buildings is considered a viable …

Identifiying Adaptive Reuse Potential, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

How to adapt existing building stock is a problem being addressed by local and state governments worldwide. In most developed countries we now spend more on building adaptation than on new construction and there is an urgent need for greater knowledge and awareness of what happens to commercial buildings over time.

Sustainable Building Adaptation: innovations in decision-making is a significant contribution to understanding best practice in sustainable adaptations to existing commercial buildings by offering new knowledge-based theoretical and practical insights. Models used are grounded in results of case studies conducted within three collaborative construction project team settings in Australia and …

Imagining Possibilities For Healthy Appalachian Communities In An Emerging Postindustrial Landscape, Brian Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

This paper explores how community might be re-imagined to promote incipient social and economic agendas born increasingly of broad-minded citizen initiatives within the Appalachian region aimed at what is generally understood as “development,” but of a form distinct from the prevailing models of a more industrial age. I would like to ask whether a city like Huntington, West Virginia can emerge as a progressive example of what we might term postindustrial, urban regeneration and perhaps what we might call community healing—specifically through grassroots movement now finding local governmental support in collective attempts to transform this place from one defined primarily …

Architecture And Energy Performance And Style, William Braham

William W. Braham

Does energy consumption influence architectural style? Should more energy-efficient buildings look different? Can that "look" be used to explain or enhance their performance?

Architecture and Energy provides architects and architectural theorists with more durable arguments for environmental design decisions, arguments addressing three different scales or aspects of contemporary construction. By drawing together essays from the leading experts in the field, this book engages with crucial issues in sustainable design, such as:

The larger role of energy in forming the cultural and economic systems in which architecture is conceived, constructed, and evaluated

The different measures and meanings of energy "performance" and …

Green Buildings: A Framework For Social Sustainability, Linda Too, Eric Too

Linda Too

No abstract provided.

Green Transit Oriented Development And Subtropical Design, Bhishna Bajracharya, Daniel O'Hare, Jason Byrne

Bhishna Bajracharya

Extract: In this chapter we review the historical development of TOD as an idea in Queensland, and discuss its evolution from an incipient 'walkability-oriented' design trend (intended to reduce car dependence, congestion and pollution while bolstering the efficient use of infrastructure and services) to a more holistic concern with environmental quality.

Specifying And Sourcing Materials For Best Practice Sustainable Education Facility, Rick Best

Rick Best

The new building that houses the Mirvac School of Sustainable Development at Bond University (Australia), opened in June 2008, is the first education building in Australia to receive a rating of six Green Stars under the Green Building Council of Australia's environmental rating scheme. It was awarded the RICS Sustainability prize for 2009. The building features a wide range of techniques and initiatives that combine to make the building a landmark for sustainable design and building in Australia and beyond. Central to the design is a range of technologies including extensive use of recycled materials, particularly Australian hardwood, onsite power …

Critical Foundations: Providing Australia’S 21st Century Infrastructure, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Extract:

Infrastructure is undoubtedly the least understood of the major asset classes in Australia. A tradition of public ownership and operation, its status as a public good and a lack of information about its investment characteristics in both public and private hands has contributed to limited recognition of its role in national and regional economies. However, this situation is changing. A coincidence of political, economic and financial events in the lead up to the worldwide economic recession of the late 1980s and Australia's microeconomic reforms of the 1990s b[r]ought into sharper focus the central role that infrastructure plays in both …

Life Cycle Costing: Practice V Theory, Tomek Paszkiewicz, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Numerous studies have already been conducted in the area of life-cycle costing (LCC), however few studies have been conducted into resolving its lack of utilisation in practice. This paper sets out known barriers and limitations and provides some advice for how education can play a role in developing future perceptions, and hence assist in bridging the gap between practice and theory. LCC is sometimes undertaken on projects of a build, own and occupy nature where it is in the client's best interest to conduct such an exercise and where taxpayers' monies are involved, however projects which are of a build …

Comparisons Of Building Energy And Cost Equivalence: An Analysis Of Thirty Melbourne Case Studies, Yu Langston, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

This study investigates the energy and cost performance of 30 recent buildings in Melbourne, Australia. Commonly, building design decisions are based on issues pertaining to construction cost, and consideration of energy performance is made only within the context of the initial project budget. Even where energy is elevated to more importance, operating energy is seen as the focus and embodied energy is nearly always ignored. For the first time, a large sample of buildings has been assembled and analyzed to improve the understanding of both energy and cost performance over their full life cycle. The data was obtained from capital …

The Inherent Building Energy-Cost Relationship: An Analysis Of Thirty Melbourne Case Studies, Yu Langston, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

This study investigates the energy and cost performance of thirty recent buildings in Melbourne, Australia. Commonly, building design decisions are based on issues pertaining to construction cost, and consideration of energy performance is made only within the context of the initial project budget. Even where energy is elevated to more importance, operating energy is seen as the focus and embodied energy is nearly always ignored. For the first time, a large sample of buildings has been assembled and analysed to improve the understanding of both energy and cost performance over their full life cycle. The aim of this paper is …

Mobilising Myths In Paradise: The Planning And Development Of Noosa As 'Not Another Gold Coast', Daniel O'Hare

Daniel O'Hare

Extract:

Many tourist brochures carry the message "see it before it is spoilt" (Selwyn, 1996). Some reports suggest that the global expansion of the tourism industry consists of a process of discovering "unspoilt" places, exploiting them until they are "spoilt", and then moving on to develop a seemingly endless supply of "unspoilt" and "pristine" places (Turner and Ash, 1975; Selwyn, 1996). Coastal tourism has been a major part of the tourism boom of the twentieth century (Turner and Ash, 1975; Smith, 1991; Bramwell, 2004). Detrimental impacts on local and regional identity have been well documented, especially in the French and …

Barriers To Sustainable Suburbs, Ned Wales, Elspeth Mead

Ned Wales

Under the rapid technological advancement within the building industry and booming economic conditions regionally it has been an ideal environment for the uptake of environmentally sustainable development (ESD) and progressive urban planning practices. Then why is there considerable lag in the implementation of new ESD technologies and master planning practices that address important issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation within building, design and construction? This paper is the result of localised research into the perceived and real barriers preventing broad adoption of ecologically sustainable development practices in the Australian land development context.

Through this investigation a consistent …

Inner-Urban Sustainability: A Case Study Of The South Brisbane Peninsula, Daniel O'Hare

Daniel O'Hare

The combination of elements and conditions in inner-urban areas may be argued to constitute established patterns of urban sustainability. This paper develops the argument through a case study of the South Brisbane peninsula, one of Queensland’s oldest and densest inner-urban areas. For the purposes of the paper, urban sustainability is defined in the context of urban design and development. This definition highlights the interrelationship between urban form and structure, and the social and economic life of the city. The paper argues that South Brisbane demonstrates significant characteristics of ‘triple bottom line’ environmental, social and economic sustainability in a subtropical inner-urban …