Journal articles on the topic 'Buildings Australia'
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Zuo, Jian, Bo Xia, Qing Chen, Stephen Pullen, and Martin Skitmore. "GREEN BUILDING RATING FOR OFFICE BUILDINGS – LESSONS LEARNED." Journal of Green Building 11, no. 2 (March 2016): 131–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/jgb.11.2.131.1.
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Office buildings constitute a significant proportion of the non-residential building stock. In recent years, various rating tools have been developed to foster green office building development. The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has developed the Green Star - Office rating tools for this purpose. There are an increasing number of stakeholders adopting these tools to showcase their efforts in sustainable development. This research focuses on the challenges and barriers in obtaining GBCA ratings in Australian Office buildings. To accomplish this, the scoring sheets from the rating of 264 certified office buildings were collected and critically analysed. The findings indicated that credits related to the attributes of innovation, ecology and energy are comparatively difficult to achieve. It was also found in this study that a large number of projects did not apply for the specific credits of refrigerant global warming potential, re-use of façade, topsoil and fill removal from site, and individual comfort control. This study provides a useful reference to both the property developer and the Green Building Council of Australia for green building developments in the future. In particular, the findings provide useful inputs to the development of the next generation of green building rating tools.
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Tan, Samson, Khalid Moinuddin, and Paul Joseph. "The Ignition Frequency of Structural Fires in Australia from 2012 to 2019." Fire 6, no. 1 (January 16, 2023): 35. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fire6010035.
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Appropriate estimates of ignition frequency derived from fire statistics are crucial for quantifying fire risks, given that ignition frequency underpins all probabilistic fire risk assessments for buildings. Rahikainen et al. (Fire Technol 2004; 40:335–53) utilized the generalized Barrois model to evaluate ignition frequencies for different buildings in Finland. The Barrois model provides a good prediction of the trend of the ignition frequency; however, it can underestimate the ignition frequency depending on the building type. In this study, an analysis of the Australian fire statistical data from 2012 to 2019 was performed and compared with studies from Finland. A new coefficient is proposed to improve the Barrois model for a better fit for buildings in Australia. Several categories, such as hotels and hospitals, which were absent in previous studies, have been included as separate categories in this study. Office and retail spaces in Finland have an ignition frequency one order of magnitude lower than in Australia. On the other hand, other buildings (retail and apartments in particular) are much more prone to fire ignition in Australia than in Finland. The improved generalized Barrois model based on the Australian fire statistical data will be useful for determining ignition frequency for risk quantification in the Australian context.
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Wong, James Pow Chew. "Building energy performance assessment for existing commercial buildings with heritage values." MATEC Web of Conferences 277 (2019): 03018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201927703018.
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The building sector accounts for 19% of Australia's energy consumption and around 23% of the greenhouse gas emissions. In 2005, commercial buildings in Australia were responsible for 10% or 26 megatonnes (Mt) of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. They are two effective ways to reduce the building sector's emissions, namely constructing new energy efficient buildings or retrofitting existing buildings. Due to the life expectancy of existing building stock the greatest reduction in emissions before 2030 could be achieved through retrofits. Building performance assessment and evaluation uses predictive modelling method to investigate and evaluate building performance in energy demands, thermal occupant comfort, indoor air quality, building retrofit options and many other related environmental and wellbeing aspects. This paper discussed the use of building performance simulation software to investigate the impacts of various retrofit options have onto energy performance of existing commercial buildings with heritage values in Australia. The research explores the use of thermal and airflow modelling in assisting understanding of building energy performance with various retrofit options applied to existing commercial buildings. The finding highlights the capabilities of building performance simulation software in decision making for building performance investigations.
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Illankoon, I. M. Chethana S., Vivian W. Y. Tam, Khoa N. Le, Cuong N. N. Tran, and Mingxue Ma. "REVIEW ON GREEN BUILDING RATING TOOLS WORLDWIDE: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AUSTRALIA." JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT 25, no. 8 (October 10, 2019): 831–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.3846/jcem.2019.10928.
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Buildings could be led to adverse impacts on environment, such as generation of construction and demolition waste, and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Therefore, promotion on development of green buildings is in need. With the increasing awareness in sustainable development, various rating tools are promoted to evaluate the performance of green buildings. Nowadays, these tools function as a guideline for green building development. There are various green building rating tools developed worldwide, and various countries follow different rules, incentives and regulations. However, despite of promotion of green building rating tools, environmental issues from buildings are still significant in Australia. This research compared green building rating tools in Australia and other countries or regions around the world. This research found that rating tools in Australia lack of (1) mandatory criteria and (2) regulations and incentives. This paper recommended that governmental incentives should be promoted.
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Li, Xiaofeng, Vladimir Strezov, and Marco Amati. "A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF MOTIVATION AND INFLUENCES FOR ACADEMIC GREEN BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS IN AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES." Journal of Green Building 8, no. 3 (July 2013): 166–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/jgb.8.3.166.
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Green building projects have been adopted by many universities in Australia as part of their renovation and expansion. In order to investigate the motivations of academic decision makers to invest in green facilities, a comprehensive analysis of media articles of 24 green academic buildings approved by the Green Building Council of Australia (between 2004 and 2011) were analysed using a qualitative analytical approach based on grounded theory. Findings in this work show that the decision makers in Australian universities are more likely to be driven by the direct benefits green buildings brought to the universities, enhancing universities’ reputation and meeting the specific needs for education and research. Other factors that deal with improving universities’ financial conditions and environmental protection were found to be a lower significance for investments. However the connections between the motivating factors also reveal the indirect benefits of green buildings which are an enhancement in reputation by fulfilling an environmental protection responsibility and research capacity enhancement by supplying technical study opportunities for students and researchers. This paper proposes an approach to deal with the complex network of vague and subjective concepts of the green buildings comprehension. It supplies researchers with tools for analysing abstract concepts and determining their interactions.
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Chen, Yuqing, Bruce Doran, Sharyn Sinclair-Hannocks, John Mangos, and Philip Gibbons. "Building selection by the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)." Wildlife Research 47, no. 2 (2020): 186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr19106.
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Abstract ContextThe common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is a protected native species in Australia that can access buildings in urban areas and cause considerable damage or disruption to building occupants. Although several strategies to discourage this species from entering buildings have been recommended, few have been evaluated empirically. AimsOur study aims to analyse how landscaping and building construction influence occupancy of buildings by the common brushtail possum. MethodsWe collated reports of possums occupying 134 buildings over 12 years on the campus of The Australian National University (ANU), in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). We used generalised linear modelling (GLM) to identify associations between the total number of reported possum-related incidents for buildings and a range of landscape and building characteristics. Key resultsControlling for the effect of building size, we found that the number of reported possum-related incidents in buildings was positively associated with the percentage of tree and shrub canopy cover within the calculated home-range buffer distance of 49m from buildings, length of canopy overhanging roofs and building age, and negatively associated with tree species richness and number of trees with natural hollows and nest boxes within 49m of buildings. There were likely to be more possum-related reports from buildings in areas where the dominant tree genus was native, buildings with parapets (walls extending above the roof), buildings with structures penetrating from the roof, buildings with tile roofs and gable roofs. ConclusionsA combination of suitable habitat surrounding buildings, suitable access to the roofs of buildings and weak points in building roofs (e.g. parapets, roof penetrations), makes them more vulnerable to occupancy by the common brushtail possum. Implications Our results provided clues for managing existing buildings, or designing new buildings, in a way that may reduce the likelihood of occupancy by the common brushtail possum. Our study also demonstrated how building-maintenance records can be used to address human–wildlife conflict over time.
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Cohen, Robert, Barry Austin, Paul Bannister, Bill Bordass, and Roderic Bunn. "How the commitment to disclose in-use performance can transform energy outcomes for new buildings." Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 38, no. 6 (June 4, 2017): 711–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0143624417711343.
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The paper describes the transformation that has taken place over the last 15 years in the energy efficiency of new office buildings constructed in Australia and considers if and how the UK could follow suit. The success in Australia has been greatest for the ‘base building’: the energy performance of the HVAC services in tenanted spaces and of all end uses in the common parts. It embraces a ‘ design for performance’ culture, supported by the NABERS ‘Commitment Agreement’, where developers and their teams sign up to an in-use performance target. The process is underpinned by advanced simulation, strategic sub-metering and fine-tuning post occupation to help eliminate wasteful deviations. The paper considers the opportunity for the UK to introduce a Commitment Agreement process for new office buildings, integrated with the Soft Landings Framework. It is argued that from a technical perspective base building energy performance in new UK offices could be as good as it is in Australia. However, there are non-technical drivers missing in the UK. To compete with their Australian peers, the UK property and construction industries need a base building energy measurement and rating system, creating the ability to set a performance target and disclose the outcome. Practical application: Design for performance uses a much more realistic building simulation model at the design stage. Although this requires a lot more inputs (details of the building’s proposed chillers, AHUs, ducts and valves, etc. and their controls), it enables the designers to capitalise from computer-aided-design to improve energy efficiency. This process deploys the technology improvement template by which much of the modern world has progressed so fast, and enables innovation to flourish. The more advanced HVAC model can predict target energy budgets for each sub-system (boilers, chillers, fans, pumps, etc.) against which the actual energy used, as measured with sub-meters, can be compared to inform fine tuning during early operation. Although a model’s predictions can be considered the ideal energy performance of the as-built system, there’s an expectation that the base building’s real performance should turn out to be within around 10% of that anticipated from the modelling.
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Richardson, James K. "Percy Rollo Brett OBE (1923–2022)." Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy 10, no. 3 (September 26, 2022): 165–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v10n3.628.
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Percy Rollo Brett OBE (11 November 1923 to 8 August 2022) was a highly respected head of the PMG/APO (later Telecom Australia/Telstra) Research Laboratories between 1964 and 1975. He was promoted to Head of Planning for Telecom Australia in July 1975, and then State Manager, Victoria for that organization in 1980–1983. Rollo’s achievements as Director of the Research Laboratories included building links with Australian universities to strengthen the Laboratories’ expertise in longer term research, and masterminding the Laboratories’ move from six different sites in central Melbourne to a single site, in purpose-designed buildings in Clayton, opposite Monash University’s main campus. In the early 1970s, he used the expertise he gained as Chairman of the Telecommunications and Electronics Standards Committee of the Standards Association of Australia to lead the Australian Post Office’s conversion of all its standards to metric. Upon retirement in 1983 he was awarded the OBE.
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Kimmel, Laurence, Mike Barnard, and Aysu Kuru. "“Open to the public”." Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research 14, no. 2 (March 17, 2020): 251–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/arch-08-2019-0189.
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PurposeThe cultural imperative for public buildings in countries like Australia to maintain their intrinsic “openness” – physically and symbolically – faces particular challenges in the context of current global terrorism concerns. Building regulations and counter-terrorism guidelines coexist uneasily, with implications for both public amenity and safety. This is particularly evident in the context of current approaches to hostile vehicle (HV) mitigation.Design/methodology/approachBased on a review of comparative literature, this multidisciplinary project assimilates design aesthetics and security expertise to assess the advantages and limitations of current counter-terrorism design approaches in Australia, the UK and the USA. The research focusses on public buildings of high cultural symbolic value (e.g. concert halls) in the context of HV mitigation.FindingsTwo key recommendations emerge. The first presents the benefits of adopting a layered security strategy tailored to a building's security and symbolic profile mix. The second proposes enhancements to the existing counter-terrorism guidelines based on a model that accounts for both symbolic value and openness.Originality/valueThe research presents new strategies for urban design and security stakeholders to balance openness and security in the design of publicly accessible buildings. While existing research addresses the challenges of terrorism in the design of public space, a literature (and practice) gap exists in Australia, the UK and the USA regarding current approaches to the design of public buildings. Using Australia as a case study, the findings will inform government and industry practitioners seeking more complementary approaches to public amenity and safety in comparable counter-security design contexts globally.
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Amalina Hanapi, Nur, Wan Khaulah Sa'adah Wan Zulkipli, and Khairul Asyraf Mohd Rodzi. "A Performance-Based Framework to Prioritize Adaptive Reuse Gallery: A Review On Sustainable Industrial Heritage Building in Malaysia & Australia." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1022, no. 1 (May 1, 2022): 012002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1022/1/012002.
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Abstract According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2007), heritage building is a tangible manmade environment with its cultural (heritage) significance in which their social values, scientific and aesthetical elements imparted in the surrounding physical settings[1]. However, there been lack of comparative studies being done to how Malaysia and Australia accentuate their historical industrial land as mining cities to the sustainable adaptive reuse gallery. Thus this research aims to make comparative studies between these two countries since both were historically developed mainly as the mining industry in early city development era. The case studies employed in four identified buildings which represents the ideals of industrial heritage adaptation in both Malaysia and Australia. It’s involved the analysis and discussion on the general public perspective, policies, body participation and its application to the function of the studied buildings. The overall research and findings clearly shown that Australian approach of adaptive reuse towards industrial heritage give an impact to the community and become an iconic building as compare to Malaysian approach.
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Nath, Shruti, Mark Dewsbury, Hartwig Künzel, and Phillipa Watson. "Mould Growth Risks for a Clay Masonry Veneer External Wall System in a Temperate Climate." Atmosphere 13, no. 11 (October 25, 2022): 1755. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos13111755.
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To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nations have introduced energy efficiency regulations for new and existing buildings. This has been considered advantageous as more efficient building envelopes would reduce energy consumed to heat and cool home interiors to within accepted thermal comfort bandwidths. However, as these methods have been adopted, many nations have identified an unintended visible presence of surface and interstitial condensation and mould in new code-compliant buildings. In Australia, it has been estimated that up to 50% of Australian houses constructed in the last decade (2006–2016) have a presence of condensation and mould. Australia introduced its first condensation and mould-related building regulations for new homes in 2019. This paper reports on the hygrothermal and mould growth analysis of the most common low-rise residential external wall system, a timber-framed clay masonry veneer wall. A key component of this paper discusses the application of innovative methods in the Australian context. The external wall’s moisture accumulation and mould growth were simulated for a period of ten years using the transient hygrothermal simulation tool, WUFI® Pro, and the mould growth model, WUFI® VTT. This study identified significant risks for this typical external wall system when constructed in a temperate climate.
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Lee, Chyi Lin, Nicholas Gumulya, and Mustapha Bangura. "The Role of Mandatory Building Efficiency Disclosure on Green Building Price Premium: Evidence from Australia." Buildings 12, no. 3 (March 3, 2022): 297. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings12030297.
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Extensive studies have examined the financial performance of green buildings in recent years. The results have frequently observed that the premium of green buildings is time-varying and dependent on the study period and markets being examined. Further, virtually no dedicated study has been devoted to examine the role of mandatory building energy rating disclosure policies on green building price premium. This raises the question of whether the mandatory energy rating disclosure policies would have an influence on the financial performance of green buildings. This study assesses the premium of green buildings by considering the role of mandatory energy efficiency of commercial building disclosure program (CBDP) using the MCSI/IPD NABERS data over 2005–2020. The results of the study showed that, in Australia, buildings with NABERS rating of 4 stars and above delivered a higher total return compared with buildings with lower NABERS ratings. This also supports the Freeman’s (1984) social impact hypothesis in which favorable social performance will ultimately lead to favorable financial performance. In addition, our empirical modelling results also demonstrated the premium of green buildings is stronger since the launch of CBDP, reflecting the importance of mandatory building efficiency disclosure. The policy implications of our studies have also been discussed as buildings play a crucial role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly net-zero carbon emissions.
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Hoult, Ryan, Helen Goldsworthy, and Elisa Lumantarna. "Fragility Functions for RC Shear Wall Buildings in Australia." Earthquake Spectra 35, no. 1 (February 2019): 333–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1193/120717eqs251m.
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This research investigates the development of analytical fragility functions for reinforced concrete shear wall buildings in Australia. A building stock for the city of Melbourne is used in conducting an assessment of these types of structures. The assessment uses the best information available for selecting the building parameters applicable to the low-to-moderate seismic region, site soil class, expected earthquake ground motions, and site response. The capacity spectrum method is used to derive vulnerability functions for low-, mid-, and high-rise reinforced concrete shear wall buildings. Although there is a paucity of earthquake damage data available in Australia, some comparisons are made using the results from the fragility functions derived here to the damage data from the Newcastle earthquake in 1989.
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Newell, Graeme, John MacFarlane, and Roger Walker. "Assessing energy rating premiums in the performance of green office buildings in Australia." Journal of Property Investment & Finance 32, no. 4 (July 1, 2014): 352–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jpif-10-2013-0061.
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Purpose – Green office buildings have recently taken on increased significance in institutional property portfolios in Australia and globally. The key issue from an institutional investor perspective is the assessment of whether green office buildings add value. Using an extensive portfolio of green office buildings, the purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the level of energy rating premiums in the property performance of green office buildings in Australia. Design/methodology/approach – Using a portfolio of over 200 green office buildings in Australia benchmarked against a comparable portfolio of non-green office buildings, the level of energy rating premiums in the property performance of green office buildings in Australia is empirically evaluated. Hedonic regression analysis is used to account for differences between specific office buildings and to explicitly identify the “pure” green effect in identifying the level of energy rating premiums in several commercial property performance characteristics (e.g. office value, rent). Findings – The empirical results show the added-value premium of the 5-star National Australian Built Environment Rating Scheme (NABERS) energy rating scheme and the Green Star scheme in the property performance of green office buildings in Australia, including office values and rents. Energy rating premiums for green office buildings are evident at the top energy ratings and energy rating discounts at the lower energy ratings. The added-value “top-end” premium of the 5-star vs 4-star NABERS energy rating category is clearly identified for the various property performance parameters, including office values and rents. Practical implications – This paper empirically determines the presence of energy rating premiums at the top energy ratings in the performance of green office buildings, as well as energy rating discounts at the lower energy ratings. This clearly highlights the added value dimension of energy efficiency in green office buildings and the need for the major office property investors to prioritise the highest energy rating to facilitate additional property performance premiums. This will also see green office buildings become the norm as the market benchmark rather than non-green office buildings. Social implications – This paper highlights energy performance premiums for green office buildings. This fits into the context of sustainability in the property industry and the broader aspects of corporate social responsibility in the property industry. Originality/value – This paper is the first published property research analysis on the detailed determination of energy rating premiums across the energy rating spectrum for green office buildings in Australia. Given the increased focus on energy efficiency and green office buildings, this research enables empirically validated and practical property investment decisions by office property investors regarding the importance of energy efficiency and green office buildings, and the priority to achieve the highest energy rating to maximise property performance premiums in office values and rents.
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Bruce, Toby, Jian Zuo, Raufdeen Rameezdeen, and Stephen Pullen. "Factors influencing the retrofitting of existing office buildings using Adelaide, South Australia as a case study." Structural Survey 33, no. 2 (May 11, 2015): 150–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ss-05-2014-0019.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers preventing investment in the re-use of low-grade multi-storey building stock in order to identify attributes that determine whether an existing building is suitable for retrofitting. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with key industry practitioners to investigate existing practices and barriers facing low-grade building retrofits and what “ideal” multi-storey building features represent a successful investment opportunity. Findings – The findings showed that tenant commitment is necessary before any project goes ahead and that there exist many barriers influencing the investment decision. These include: high levels of asbestos found in existing buildings; changes in the National Construction Code necessitating enhanced fire safety and disability access; heritage listing; lack of awareness; overestimation of costs involved on simple and effective energy efficiency upgrades and change in tenant demands towards modern and efficient open plan offices. Many low-grade structures are privately owned inherited assets where the owners lack the expertise and capital to undertake retrofitting effectively. Research limitations/implications – The study is focused on the Adelaide CBD in South Australia but the findings are relevant to other Australian cities. Practical implications – There is room in the market for more positive and influential schemes such as the Green Building Fund that encourage more energy efficiency upgrading of these buildings. Social implications – The greater occurrence of retrofitting and re-use of older buildings, rather than demolition and rebuilding, has advantages with regard to reducing the impact of buildings on the environment and promoting sustainability. Originality/value – The research has indicated certain features of older buildings which render them as suitable candidates for retrofitting and refurbishment.
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Sriravindrarajah, Rasiah, and Elizebeth Tran. "Waterproofing practices in Australia for building construction." MATEC Web of Conferences 195 (2018): 01002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201819501002.
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Waterproofing is an essential component in building construction to maintain the integrity of buildings with reduced maintenance cost. A comprehensive waterproofing system is an integrated combination of factors, and includes product selection, membrane detail, substrate preparation, design, installation and maintenance. It is designed to work under different environmental conditions, substrates and applications. Proper understanding of the issues related to waterproofing membrane systems is important to minimise the waterproofing failures in both commercial and residential buildings. This paper aims to discuss Standards and Codes; membrane systems and performance, waterproofing practices, design and installation techniques, inspection and testing and quality assurance adopted by the waterproofing industry in Australia.
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Yazdani Mehr, Shabnam, and Sara Wilkinson. "Technical issues and energy efficient adaptive reuse of heritage listed city halls in Queensland Australia." International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation 36, no. 5 (November 12, 2018): 529–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijbpa-02-2018-0020.
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Purpose Adaptive reuse of heritage stock has several advantages: retention of culturally and socially significant buildings, as well as the opportunity to consider embodied energy, energy efficiency retrofit measures and other environmental upgrades. The purpose of this paper is to identify the technical issues faced in the adaptive reuse of Australian heritage listed city halls and discuss sustainable strategies to enable further adaptations to be more energy efficient. Design/methodology/approach Adaptive reuse of a heritage building provides an opportunity to retain embodied energy, improve energy efficiency and enhance durability, which are important aspects of the technical lifecycle of a building. Using a case study methodology and a qualitative approach, this paper evaluates adaptations and the technical issues faced in three heritage city halls in Queensland, Australia. Findings The analysis shows that enhancing energy efficiency enables heritage buildings to reduce their climate change impacts. However, the installation of equipment for energy efficiency can pose technical issues for heritage buildings. The ownership of heritage building and interest of the local community affects the solutions that are viable. Solutions and further sustainable strategies are proposed through analysis of case studies. Originality/value City halls globally adopt different and varied architectural designs, features and scales. They are often heritage listed and locally significant landmarks that have undergone various adaptations; however, they have been overlooked in much adaptive reuse research, particularly in Australia. City halls differ from other heritage buildings in their collective sense of ownership which is important in regard to proposed changes, as citizens have an interest and hold opinions which may affect measures adopted. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge related to energy efficient technical adaptive reuse of city halls.
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Wei, Wesley, Mohammad Mojtahedi, Maziar Yazdani, and Kamyar Kabirifar. "The Alignment of Australia’s National Construction Code and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Achieving Resilient Buildings and Communities." Buildings 11, no. 10 (September 23, 2021): 429. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings11100429.
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The risks associated with extreme weather events induced by climate change are increasingly being recognized, and must be addressed through each country’s construction regulations, building codes, and standards. Ensuring that buildings and cities are resilient against disasters is becoming more important. Few studies have analyzed the impact of global polices and frameworks in reducing disaster risks and increasing resilience in built environments. This research reviews disasters associated with climate change in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, analyzing how Australia’s National Construction Code is aligned with the framework and the potential implications for reducing disaster risk. Decision-makers in construction companies in Sydney, Australia, were surveyed. The results show there is a statistically significant link among the National Construction Code, the Sendai Framework, and building resilience. The Sendai Framework is an effective mediator in this three-pronged relationship that can further enhance building resilience in Australia. Stakeholders in the construction industry will need to incorporate disaster risk reduction practices, especially authorities, such as local governments, building commissioners, and building certifiers that are responsible for the approval, quality, and defects mitigation of development applications and best practices. Overall, implementation of the Sendai Framework will help develop more regulations and standards for resilient buildings, set targets, and make improvements over time in the Australian construction industry.
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Albatayneh, Aiman, Dariusz Alterman, Adrian Page, and Behdad Moghtaderi. "The Significance of Temperature Based Approach Over the Energy Based Approaches in the Buildings Thermal Assessment." Environmental and Climate Technologies 19, no. 1 (May 1, 2017): 39–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/rtuect-2017-0004.
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Abstract The design of low energy buildings requires accurate thermal simulation software to assess the heating and cooling loads. Such designs should sustain thermal comfort for occupants and promote less energy usage over the life time of any building. One of the house energy rating used in Australia is AccuRate, star rating tool to assess and compare the thermal performance of various buildings where the heating and cooling loads are calculated based on fixed operational temperatures between 20 °C to 25 °C to sustain thermal comfort for the occupants. However, these fixed settings for the time and temperatures considerably increase the heating and cooling loads. On the other hand the adaptive thermal model applies a broader range of weather conditions, interacts with the occupants and promotes low energy solutions to maintain thermal comfort. This can be achieved by natural ventilation (opening window/doors), suitable clothes, shading and low energy heating/cooling solutions for the occupied spaces (rooms). These activities will save significant amount of operating energy what can to be taken into account to predict energy consumption for a building. Most of the buildings thermal assessment tools depend on energy-based approaches to predict the thermal performance of any building e.g. AccuRate in Australia. This approach encourages the use of energy to maintain thermal comfort. This paper describes the advantages of a temperature-based approach to assess the building’s thermal performance (using an adaptive thermal comfort model) over energy based approach (AccuRate Software used in Australia). The temperature-based approach was validated and compared with the energy-based approach using four full scale housing test modules located in Newcastle, Australia (Cavity Brick (CB), Insulated Cavity Brick (InsCB), Insulated Brick Veneer (InsBV) and Insulated Reverse Brick Veneer (InsRBV)) subjected to a range of seasonal conditions in a moderate climate. The time required for heating and/or cooling using the adaptive thermal comfort approach and AccuRate predictions were estimated. Significant savings (of about 50 %) in energy consumption in minimising the time required for heating and cooling were achieved by using the adaptive thermal comfort model.
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Dyson, Kristy, Jane Matthews, and Peter E. D. Love. "Critical success factors of adapting heritage buildings: an exploratory study." Built Environment Project and Asset Management 6, no. 1 (February 1, 2016): 44–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/bepam-01-2015-0002.
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Purpose – The loss of heritage buildings should be avoided as they provide a tangible example of a period of life that is now gone. Adaptive re-use enables buildings to be given a second life, enabling them to live on when they may have been previously underutilized. Changing the capacity, function or performance of underutilized buildings for a different purpose, or to suit new conditions, or making use of pre-existing structural elements has become necessary to preserve heritage buildings. The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors (CSF) for the adaptive re-use of heritage buildings. Design/methodology/approach – Identification of CSF for adaptive re-use can provide asset owners, developers and key stakeholders with the knowledge needed to ensure a project is delivered successfully. Due to a lack of research in the area of CSF for heritage buildings, an exploratory approach was undertaken. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with stakeholders to solicit their views as to CSFs that lead to the successful adaption of all heritage buildings that had been subjected to re-use program in Perth, Western Australia, were examined. Findings – Four CSFs were identified: research; matching function; function; and design and minimal change. It is proffered that by addressing the CSFs issues associated with latent conditions, building layout and commercial risk and uncertainty can be addressed. Yet, the Building Code of Australia will continue to be the most significant issue for owners/developers and project teams who embrace an adaptive re-use project. Originality/value – To date there has been limited research undertaken with regard to determining the CSF for heritage buildings that have been subjected to adaptive re-use. The work presented in this paper identifies the key CSFs that emerged from the stock of heritage building’s in Perth, WA. Further research is required to determine the validity of the CSFs, however, those identified provide a benchmark for further studies in this fertile area.
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Keys, Cathy. "Diversifying the early history of the prefabricated colonial house in Moreton Bay." Queensland Review 26, no. 01 (June 2019): 86–106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/qre.2019.5.
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AbstractThe history of prefabrication in settler Australia is incomplete. The use of prefabricated and transportable buildings in existing Australian architectural histories focuses on colonial importation from Britain, Asia, America and New Zealand. This article, however, argues for a more diverse and local history of prefabrication — one that considers Indigenous people’s use of prefabrication and draws on archaeological research of abandoned military ventures, revealing an Australian-made, colonial prefabricated building industry that existed for over 40 years, from the 1800s to the 1840s. A more inclusive architectural history of prefabrication is considered in relation to a case study of the first European house erected in Moreton Bay at the British penal outpost of Red Cliffe Point (1824–25), a settlement established partly to contribute to British territory-marking on Australia’s distant coastlines. While existing histories prioritise transportability and ease of assembly as features of prefabricated buildings, this research has found that ease of disassembly, relocation and recycling of building components is a key feature of prefabrication in early abandoned British military garrisons.
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Mohseni, Hessam, Sujeeva Setunge, Guomin Zhang, Ruwini Edirisinghe, and Ronald Wakefield. "Deterioration Prediction for Community Buildings in Australia." International Journal of the Constructed Environment 1, no. 4 (2012): 175–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.18848/2154-8587/cgp/v01i04/37498.
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Wilson, J. L., and E. Tagaza. "Green Buildings in Australia: Drivers and Barriers." Australian Journal of Structural Engineering 7, no. 1 (January 2006): 57–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13287982.2006.11464964.
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Tartarini, F., M. Fiorentini, L. Ledo Gomis, and P. Cooper. "Ventilative cooling potential of buildings in Australia." IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 609 (October 23, 2019): 032052. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/609/3/032052.
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Munawar, Hafiz Suliman, Riya Aggarwal, Zakria Qadir, Sara Imran Khan, Abbas Z. Kouzani, and M. A. Parvez Mahmud. "A Gabor Filter-Based Protocol for Automated Image-Based Building Detection." Buildings 11, no. 7 (July 8, 2021): 302. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings11070302.
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Detecting buildings from high-resolution satellite imagery is beneficial in mapping, environmental preparation, disaster management, military planning, urban planning and research purposes. Differentiating buildings from the images is possible however, it may be a time-consuming or complicated process. Therefore, the high-resolution imagery from satellites needs to be automated to detect the buildings. Additionally, buildings exhibit several different characteristics, and their appearance in these images is unplanned. Moreover, buildings in the metropolitan environment are typically crowded and complicated. Therefore, it is challenging to identify the building and hard to locate them. To resolve this situation, a novel probabilistic method has been suggested using local features and probabilistic approaches. A local feature extraction technique was implemented, which was used to calculate the probability density function. The locations in the image were represented as joint probability distributions and were used to estimate their probability distribution function (pdf). The density of building locations in the image was extracted. Kernel density distribution was also used to find the density flow for different metropolitan cities such as Sydney (Australia), Tokyo (Japan), and Mumbai (India), which is useful for distribution intensity and pattern of facility point f interest (POI). The purpose system can detect buildings/rooftops and to test our system, we choose some crops with panchromatic high-resolution satellite images from Australia and our results looks promising with high efficiency and minimal computational time for feature extraction. We were able to detect buildings with shadows and building without shadows in 0.4468 (seconds) and 0.5126 (seconds) respectively.
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Guan, Lisa. "The Influence of Glass Types on the Performance of Air-Conditioned Office Buildings in Australia." Advanced Materials Research 346 (September 2011): 34–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.346.34.
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Windows are one of the most significant elements in the design of buildings. Whether there are small punched openings in the facade or a completely glazed curtain wall, windows are usually a dominant feature of the building's exterior appearance. From the energy use perspective, windows may also be regarded as thermal holes for a building. Therefore, window design and selection must take both aesthetics and serviceability into consideration. In this paper, using building computer simulation techniques, the effects of glass types on the thermal and energy performance of a sample air-conditioned office building in Australia are studied. It is found that a glass type with lower shading coefficient will have a lower building cooling load and total energy use. Through the comparison of results between current and future weather scenarios, it is identified that the pattern found from the current weather scenario would also exist in the future weather scenario, although the scale of change would become smaller. The possible implication of glazing selection in face of global warming is also examined. It is found that compared with its influence on building thermal performance, its influence on the building energy use is relatively small or insignificant.
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Almeida, Laura, Vivian W. Y. Tam, Khoa N. Le, and Yujuan She. "Effects of occupant behaviour on energy performance in buildings: a green and non-green building comparison." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 27, no. 8 (June 26, 2020): 1939–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-11-2019-0653.
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PurposeOccupants are one of the most impacting factors in the overall energy performance of buildings, according to literature. Occupants’ behaviours and actions may impact the overall use of energy in more than 50%. In order to quantify the impact that occupant behaviour has in the use of energy, this study simulated interactions between occupants and the systems present in two actual buildings. The main aim was to compare the deviations due to occupant behaviour with the actual conditions and energy use of the two buildings.Design/methodology/approachThe buildings used as a case study in this research were green buildings, rated according to the Australian Green Star certification system as a 6-star and a non-rated building. The two buildings are university buildings with similar characteristics, from Western Sydney University, in Sydney, Australia. A comparison was performed by means of building simulations among the use of energy in both buildings, aiming to understand if the green rating had any impact on the energy related to occupant behaviour. Therefore, to represent the actual buildings' conditions, the actual data related with climate, geometry, systems, internal loads, etc. were used as input variables in the simulation models of the green and the non-rated buildings. Both models were calibrated and validated, having as target the actual monitored use of electricity.FindingsOccupants were categorized according to their levels of energy use as follows: saving, real and intensive energy users. Building simulations were performed to each building, with varying parameters related with lighting, plug loads, windows/doors opening, shading and air conditioning set points. Results show that occupant behaviour may impact the buildings' energy performance in a range of 72% between the two extremes. There is no significant relationship between the green rating and the way occupants behave in terms of the energy use.Originality/valueThis study intends to show the impact of different categories of occupant behaviour in the overall energy performance of two university buildings, a non-rated and a green-rated building, having as reference an actual representation of the buildings. Additionally, the study aims to understand the main differences between a green-rated and a non-rated building when accounting with the previous categories.
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Khoshbakht, Maryam, Zhonghua Gou, Xiaohuan Xie, Baojie He, and Amos Darko. "Green Building Occupant Satisfaction: Evidence from the Australian Higher Education Sector." Sustainability 10, no. 8 (August 15, 2018): 2890. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su10082890.
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Universities spend billions of dollars on green buildings as a sustainability commitment. This research investigates occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ), building design (BD), and facilities management (FM) in five highly ranked green higher educational buildings in the subtropical climate of Australia, in comparison to nine non-green counterparts. The results disclose that the green building users were more consistently satisfied than the non-green building users with BD&FM elements, such as design, needs from facilities, building image, cleaning, the availability of meeting rooms, and storage. On the other hand, the study revealed weaknesses of green buildings in IEQ, such as noise, ventilation, and artificial lighting. The individual environmental control positively correlated with satisfaction in non-green buildings, but did not significantly affect satisfaction in green buildings. This study also identified the influences of non-environmental factors on occupant satisfaction, such as gender, age, sitting close to a window, hours spent in the building and in the workstation, and the number of people sharing office space. The research provides evidence and guidance for investing in, designing, and managing green educational facilities.
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Wilkinson, Sara J., Kimberley James, and Richard Reed. "Using building adaptation to deliver sustainability in Australia." Structural Survey 27, no. 1 (April 3, 2009): 46–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02630800910941683.
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PurposeThis paper seeks to establish the rationale for existing office building adaptation within Melbourne, Australia, as the city strives to become carbon neutral by 2020. The problems faced by policy makers to determine which buildings have the optimum adaptation potential are to be identified and discussed.Design/methodology/approachThis research adopts the approach of creating a database of all the buildings in the Melbourne CBD including details of physical, social, economic and technological attributes. This approach will determine whether relationships exist between attributes and the frequency of building adaptation or whether triggers to adaptation can be determined.FindingsThis research provided evidence that a much faster rate of office building adaptation is necessary to meet the targets already set for carbon neutrality. The findings demonstrate that a retrospective comprehensive examination of previous adaptation in the CBD is a unique and original approach to determining the building characteristics associated with adaptation and whether triggers can be identified based on previous practices. The implication is that a decision‐making tool should be developed to allow policy makers to target sectors of the office building stock to deliver carbon neutrality within the 2020 timeframe.Practical implicationsDrastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are required to mitigate global warming and climate change and all stakeholders should be looking at ways of reducing emissions from existing stock.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the existing body of knowledge by raising awareness of the way in which the adaptation of large amounts of existing stock can be fast tracked to mitigate the impact of climate change and warming associated with the built environment, and in addition it establishes a framework for a decision‐making tool for policy makers.
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Wang, Jie, and Wei Pan. "INFLUENCING PARAMETERS OF THE LIFE CYCLE COST-ENERGY RELATIONSHIP OF BUILDINGS." Journal of Green Building 13, no. 4 (September 2018): 103–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/1943-4618.13.4.103.
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Buildings contribute around 45% of the world's energy consumption. Reducing energy demand in buildings therefore plays a vital role in addressing the depletion of energy resources and associated environmental issues. Previous research explored the optimisations of the costs and energy consumption of buildings, but often overlooked the connections, tradeoffs and synergies between them. The aim of this paper is thus to develop a theoretical model of the influencing parameters of the life cycle cost-energy relationship (LCCER) of buildings using the Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Environmental and Legal (PESTEL) analytical framework. This study was carried out through a critical literature review, model development and validation through case studies with four zero or nearly zero energy building projects carefully selected from the European Union and Australia. The developed model addresses the buildings' LCCER by identifying the key influencing parameters and explicating the mechanisms (namely, the simultaneous and unilateral effects) by which the identified parameters affect such relationship. The important influencing parameters were found to reside in two aspects: (1) internal project designs covering building characteristics, building structure and function, and construction process, and (2) external environments covering climate, economic condition, occupant behaviour, policy and regulation, and buildings' lifespan focused in the studies. Various statistical correlations were found to exist between the costs and energy consumption of the studied cases. It is summarised that these correlations may be attributable to the synergy between the simultaneous and unilateral effects of the identified parameters. The developed model contributes a systemic approach to examining the building's life cycle economics and energy in a comparative manner.
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Marzban, Samin, Christhina Candido, Arianna Brambilla, Ozgur Gocer, Diksha Vijapur, and Christopher Jensen. "Is 24.9 °C Too Hot to Think? A Call to Raise Temperature Setpoints in Australian Offices." Buildings 12, no. 12 (December 19, 2022): 2259. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings12122259.
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The current +−0.5 PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) targets adopted by NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System) is the practical range deemed acceptable for 90% acceptability for commercial buildings in Australia, however thermal comfort satisfaction scores measured in office buildings still show high percentages of dissatisfied occupants. This paper aims to demonstrate the potential of curbing energy consumption from commercial buildings in Australia by increasing summer temperature set-points. A 10-year NABERS dataset, along with objective and subjective thermal comfort and air quality data from NABERS-certified offices are investigated in this study. Furthermore, different simulation scenarios are tested to investigate the discomfort hours and energy consumption for various summer temperature setpoints. Result analysis shows that occupants’ satisfaction in NABERS-certified buildings was not within the 90% satisfaction, with being too cold/hot as the main source of dissatisfaction. Objective measurements also showed temperature was out of recommended range for several datapoints. Simulation results indicate that, within the average range of 21–24.9 °C, there is not a significant difference in discomfort hours that could drive the selection of one temperature set-point over the other. Challenging the current practices, results suggest that a cooling set point temperature on the upper limit of the range indicated by the Australian standard AS 1837–1976 may minimize the energy consumption without significantly increasing discomfort, or even increasing the perceived satisfaction with the indoor environment.
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Dall'Osso, F., M. Gonella, G. Gabbianelli, G. Withycombe, and D. Dominey-Howes. "Assessing the vulnerability of buildings to tsunami in Sydney." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 9, no. 6 (December 3, 2009): 2015–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/nhess-9-2015-2009.
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Abstract. Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of tsunamis and exposure along the SE coast of New South Wales is especially high. Significantly, this is the same area reported to have been affected by repeated large magnitude tsunamis during the Holocene. Efforts are under way to complete probabilistic risk assessments for the region but local government planners and emergency risk managers need information now about building vulnerability in order to develop appropriate risk management strategies. We use the newly revised PTVA-3 Model (Dall'Osso et al., 2009) to assess the relative vulnerability of buildings to damage from a "worst case tsunami" defined by our latest understanding of regional risk – something never before undertaken in Australia. We present selected results from an investigation of building vulnerability within the local government area of Manly – an iconic coastal area of Sydney. We show that a significant proportion of buildings (in particular, residential structures) are classified as having "High" and "Very High" Relative Vulnerability Index scores. Furthermore, other important buildings (e.g., schools, nursing homes and transport structures) are also vulnerable to damage. Our results have serious implications for immediate emergency risk management, longer-term land-use zoning and development, and building design and construction standards. Based on the work undertaken here, we recommend further detailed assessment of the vulnerability of coastal buildings in at risk areas, development of appropriate risk management strategies and a detailed program of community engagement to increase overall resilience.
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Christudason, Alice. "Subdivided Buildings—Developments in Australia, Singapore and England." International and Comparative Law Quarterly 45, no. 2 (April 1996): 343–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0020589300059029.
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This article considers the development in several Commonwealth jurisdictions of the law relating to “horizontal subdivisions”2, or subdivided buildings. The latter expression describes the situation where title to land can relate to a slice of defined area or cubic space, which is not grounded on the surface layer of the earth, and is divided not only horizontally, but vertically as well.
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Strang, Marcus, Paola Leardini, Arianna Brambilla, and Eugenia Gasparri. "Mass Timber Envelopes in Passivhaus Buildings: Designing for Moisture Safety in Hot and Humid Australian Climates." Buildings 11, no. 10 (October 14, 2021): 478. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings11100478.
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The uptake of buildings employing cross-laminated timber (CLT) assemblies and designed to Passivhaus standard has accelerated internationally over the past two decades due to several factors including responses to the climate crisis by decarbonising the building stock. Structural CLT technology and the Passivhaus certification both show measurable benefits in reducing energy consumption, while contributing to durability and indoor comfort. However, there is a general lack of evidence to support a fast uptake of these technologies in Australia. This paper responds to the compelling need of providing quantitative data and adoption strategies; it explores their combined application as a potential pathway for climate-appropriate design of energy-efficient and durable mass timber envelope solutions for subtropical and tropical Australian climates. Hygrothermal risk assessments of interstitial condensation and mould growth of CLT wall assemblies inform best-practice design of mass timber buildings in hot and humid climates. This research found that the durability of mass timber buildings located in hot and humid climates may benefit from implementing the Passivhaus standard to manage interior conditions. The findings also suggested that climate-specific design of the wall assembly is critical for mass timber buildings, in conjunction with excellent stormwater management practices during construction and corrosion protection for metallic fasteners.
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Han, Hoon, Haonan Chen, and Jinwoo (Brian) Lee. "Spatiotemporal Changes in Vertical Heterogeneity: High-Rise Office Building Floor Space in Sydney, Australia." Buildings 11, no. 8 (August 21, 2021): 374. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings11080374.
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Mixed-use development is increasingly popular in land use planning and zoning, fostering a combination of residential, commercial, and cultural uses into one space. However, there is a lack of understanding of the vertical mix office space within a high-rise commercial building and the dynamics of the industry mix between buildings. This paper examines the spatiotemporal patterns of industry mix between and within office buildings in Sydney CBD from 2006 to 2017, using the data obtained from the City of Sydney floor space and employment surveys. This is the first study that identifies the dynamics of an industrial ecosystem in central Sydney, which has transformed to homophily land blocks, with increasing vertically heterogeneous office buildings, over the past decade. In addition, the study found that the significant clustering of anchor tenants, such as finances, hospitalities, and knowledge-based industries, are apparent.
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Tabrizi, Toktam B., and Arianna Brambilla. "Toward LCA-lite: A Simplified Tool to Easily Apply LCA Logic at the Early Design Stage of Building in Australia." European Journal of Sustainable Development 8, no. 5 (October 1, 2019): 383. http://dx.doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2019.v8n5p383.
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), developed over 30 years ago, has been helpful in addressing a growing concern about the direct and indirect environmental impact of buildings over their lifetime. However, lack of reliable, available, comparable and consistent information on the life cycle environmental performance of buildings makes it very difficult for architects and engineers to apply this method in the early stages of building design when the most important decisions in relation to a building’s environmental impact are made. The LCA quantification method with need of employing complex tools and an enormous amount of data is unfeasible for small or individual building projects. This study discusses the possibility of the development of a tool that allows building designers to more easily apply the logic of LCA at the early design stage. Minimising data requirements and identifying the most effective parameters that promise to make the most difference, are the key points of simplification method. The conventional LCA framework and knowledge-based system are employed through the simplification process. Results of previous LCA studies in Australia are used as the specific knowledge that enable the system to generate outputs based on the user’s inputs.Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), early design stage, most effective parameters, life cycle environmental performance
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Levin, Iris, and Kathy Arthurson. "Living closely: residents' health and wellbeing in small multi-owned residential buildings." Property Management 38, no. 3 (March 4, 2020): 345–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/pm-03-2019-0013.
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the causes, the nature and the extent of unneighbourly relations between neighbours living in small multi-owned residential buildings (MOBs, sometimes called strata) in Australian cities, and the effect of these relations on the health and wellbeing of residents. The impact of neighbour relations and conflicts on residents' health and wellbeing has not been explored before in the context of small MOBs in Australia (under 12 units).Design/methodology/approachThe research involved an analysis of secondary data on common problems experienced in MOBs between neighbours, in-depth face-to-face interviews with twenty-six residents and interviews with five managers of management agencies in metropolitan Melbourne (Victoria) and Adelaide (South Australia), Australia.FindingsWhen strata processes and management worked well residents were positive about living in such an arrangement. However, when the strata group was less harmonious residents reported that it impacted negatively on their health and wellbeing.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's findings are subject to the widely acknowledged limitations of small sample-based interview research. Findings indicate that there is a need to explore the benefits and disadvantages of living in small multi-owned residential buildings in Australia on a larger scale.Practical implicationsThere are three policy implications from the findings: a need for better education of prospective buyers regarding the nature of strata living; tighter regulation of rules for small multi-owned apartment buildings is required, (in a similar way to how the regulations operate in large apartment buildings); and a need to include private rental tenants living in strata in the everyday life around the management of the building.Originality/valueThe impact of neighbourly relations and conflicts on the health and wellbeing of residents living in MOBs, particularly small ones, has not been studied adequately, as current research focuses on large apartment buildings. This research addresses a gap in the literature in the study of small living arrangements (town houses, apartment buildings, terraces), with 12 or less apartments, with a focus on residents' health and wellbeing.
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Heywood, Chris, Eckhart Hertzsch, and Mirek Piechowski. "The climatic influence on sustainable refurbishments and life cycle investing in Australia." Property Management 33, no. 1 (February 16, 2015): 19–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/pm-04-2013-0025.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation of the effect of location on refurbishment strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the temperate and sub-tropical urban locations in Australia. This occurred within a larger research project that investigated methods for sustainable refurbishments to office buildings and their optimized timing from an investment perspective. Design/methodology/approach – An office building in Melbourne was used to develop seven sets of improvements using an integrated approach to upgrade mechanical services and the building envelope. Using asset management trigger points the impact on net present value and internal rate of return were calculated, taking into account the capital expenditure required, the energy savings due to the refurbishment, as well as a possible rental increase due to the upgrade and lesser operational energy bills for the tenants. To investigate the importance of the location attribute the upgraded building’s performance was modelled in a different climate by using a Brisbane weather file. Findings – A number of unexpected results were found, including that the same sets of improvements had similar reductions in GHG emissions in the two locations, they had similar impacts on the investment criteria and when using the National Australian Building Energy Rating System it was shown that it was easier and cheaper to get an uplift in stars in Melbourne than Brisbane. Research limitations/implications – This location-specific analysis is the result of using a more sophisticated and holistic methodology to analyse sustainable refurbishments that more closely resembles the complexity of the decision making required to make buildings more sustainable. Practical implications – This paper provides a basis for property investors to make decisions about sustainable investments when location is important. This can occur when a portfolio is distributed across various climate zones. Originality/value – The research project that the paper reports addresses the complexity of building attributes, possible sets of improvements to reduce GHG emissions and their investment decisions, within a life cycle view of assets. It is rare that this complexity is addressed as a whole, and rarer that locational climatic differences are examined.
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Kalutara, Pushpitha, Guomin Zhang, Sujeeva Setunge, and Ron Wakefield. "Factors that influence Australian community buildings’ sustainable management." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 24, no. 1 (January 16, 2017): 94–117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-10-2015-0158.
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Purpose Australia has a huge stock of community buildings built up over decades. Their replacements consume a large sum of money from country’s economy which has called for a strategy for their sustainable management. For this, a comprehensive decision-making structure is an utmost requirement. The purpose of this paper is to capture their sustainable management from four aspects, i.e. environmental, economic, social and functional. Design/methodology/approach The design process follows an extensive review of environmental and life cycle assessments and company context documents. Extracted factors are tailored to community buildings management following expert consultation. However, the resulted list of factors is extremely large, and “factor analysis” technique is used to group the factors. For this, an industry-wide questionnaire across Australian local councils is employed to solicit opinions of the list of factors. Findings The analysis has pinpointed 18 key parameters (criteria) to represent all four aspects. This paper presents the preliminary findings of the factors and the analysis results based on the questionnaire responses. Practical implications The final decision-making structure incorporates all these aspects and criteria. This can be used to develop a decision-making model which produces a sustainability index for building components. Asset managers can mainly use the sustainability index to prioritise their maintenance activities and eventually, to find out cost-optimisation options for them. Originality/value Most notably, this is the first study to apply all four sustainability aspects (environmental, economic, social and functional) to develop a decision-making structure for Australian community buildings’ sustainable management.
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Spennemann, Dirk H. R., Melissa Pike, and Maggie J. Watson. "Bird impacts on heritage buildings." Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development 8, no. 1 (February 6, 2018): 62–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jchmsd-07-2016-0042.
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Purpose There is much anecdotal evidence that birds and their droppings are a major problem for the heritage profession. The purpose of this paper is to examine how serious heritage practitioners consider the bird impact to be. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted of 59 Australian heritage professionals of between one and >20 year’s experience in the field. Findings Bird impacts were not considered of major concern to buildings. The longer experience a practitioner had, the less likely the impacts were considered an issue. Feral pigeons were deemed the most problematic, followed by cockatoos, starlings, swallows, seagulls, mynas, sparrows, cormorants, ibis, ducks and birds of prey. The professionals ranked common deterrent methods. The highest-ranking deterrents were bird netting and bird spikes, but they were only considered moderately effective. The costs of installation and maintenance, as well the ease of installation, were all deemed significantly less important than the physical impact, the aesthetic sympathy and the effectiveness of a deterrent method. Practical implications This study indicates that the impact of birds on buildings in Australia may be of less concern than previously thought, and may be driven by other factors (i.e. aesthetics, commercial companies) rather than actual effects. Originality/value This is first study of its kind that surveyed the experiences of a wide range of heritage practitioners.
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Dadzie, John, Goran Runeson, and Grace Ding. "Assessing determinants of sustainable upgrade of existing buildings." Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology 18, no. 1 (August 31, 2019): 270–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jedt-09-2018-0148.
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Purpose Estimates show that close to 90% of the buildings we will need in 2050 are already built and occupied. The increase in the existing building stock has affected energy consumption thereby negatively impacting the environment. The purpose of this paper is to assess determinants of sustainable upgrade of existing buildings through the adoption and application of sustainable technologies. The study also ranks sustainable technologies adopted by the professionals who participated in the survey with an in-built case study. Design/methodology/approach As part of the overall methodology, a detailed literature review on the nature and characteristics of sustainable upgrade and the sustainable technologies adopted was undertaken. A survey questionnaire with an in-built case study was designed to examine all the sustainable technologies adopted to improve energy consumption in Australia. The survey was administered to sustainability consultants, architects, quantity surveyors, facility managers and engineers in Australia. Findings The results show a total of 24 technologies which are mostly adopted to improve energy consumption in existing buildings. A factor analysis shows the main components as: lighting and automation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HAVC) systems and equipment, envelope, renewable energy and passive technologies. Originality/value The findings bridge the gap in the literature on the adoption and application of sustainable technologies to upgrade existing buildings. The technologies can be adopted to reduce the excessive energy consumption patterns in existing buildings.
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De Jong, Ursula, and Flavia Marcello. "Stewardship and renewal of catholic places of worship in Australia." Actas de Arquitectura Religiosa Contemporánea 6 (April 3, 2020): 156–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.17979/aarc.2019.6.0.6236.
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The National Liturgical Architecture and Art Council (NLAAC) is an advisory body to the Bishops’ Commission for Liturgy of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, mandated to provide advice in the areas of liturgical architecture, art and heritage. The Council has prepared guidelines for use throughout the Catholic Church in Australia. The most recent of these documents, Fit for Sacred Use: Stewardship and Renewal of Places of Worship (2018) focusses on existing church buildings with particular reference to cultural heritage, and is the subject of this paper. Vatican II sought the full and active liturgical participation of all the people and so existing churches were reordered to foster inclusion. It is timely to consider questions around what constitutes our heritage and how it is valued. Fit for Sacred Use sets out the liturgical and heritage principles which are fundamental to conserving, renovating and reordering a church building. Its holistic approach considers how we renew our churches while honouring our heritage.
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Tupenaite, Laura, Viktorija Zilenaite, Loreta Kanapeckiene, Tomas Gecys, and Ineta Geipele. "Sustainability Assessment of Modern High-Rise Timber Buildings." Sustainability 13, no. 16 (August 4, 2021): 8719. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13168719.
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As woodworking and construction technologies improve, the construction of multi-storey timber buildings is gaining popularity worldwide. There is a need to look at the design of existing buildings and assess their sustainability. The aim of the present study is to assess the sustainability of modern high-rise timber buildings using multi-criteria assessment methods. The paper presents a hierarchical system of sustainability indicators and an assessment framework, developed by the authors. Based on this framework, the tallest timber buildings in different countries, i.e., Mjøstårnet in Norway, Brock Commons in Canada, Treet in Norway, Forte in Australia, Strandparken in Sweden and Stadthaus in UK, were compared across the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic/technological, and social). Research has revealed that none of the buildings is leading in all dimensions of sustainability. However, each building is unique and has its own strengths. Overall multi-criteria assessment of the buildings revealed that the Brock Commons building in Canada has received the highest rank in all dimensions of sustainability. The paper contributes to the theory and practice of sustainability assessment and extends the knowledge about high-rise timber buildings. The proposed sustainability assessment framework can be used by both academics and practitioners for assessment of high-rise timber buildings.
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Jailani, Junaidah, Richard Reed, and Kimberley James. "Examining the perception of tenants in sustainable office buildings." Property Management 33, no. 4 (August 17, 2015): 386–404. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/pm-05-2014-0022.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address two major challenges faced by sustainable building owners: first, address the gap between an occupant’s expectations of sustainable building outcomes and what the building actually provides and second, overcome the lack of user knowledge about sustainability design and operation for a particular with regards to performance. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a focus group approach to investigate the gap between: user expectations and sustainable building performance. The study surveyed occupants of sustainable office buildings in Melbourne, Australia. Findings – There is no significant relationship between users’ expectations and users’ experience of sustainable building performance and users’ knowledge about sustainability and the building they were worked in. Research limitations/implications – The research was limited to sustainable office buildings. New office buildings seeking to incorporate sustainability which need to focus on the needs of tenants in order to maximise value. Practical implications – There is an urgent need to ensure sustainable office buildings meet the needs of present and future occupiers without compromising short and long-term occupier satisfaction levels with regards to sustainability and operation of the building. Social implications – Increasing the level of sustainability in office buildings has been a major trend over the past decade however the tenants need to be consulted in the post-occupancy phase. Originality/value – Little attention has been given in the property management literature to sustainable office buildings and value drivers. This is an original and innovative study, partly due to the recent developments in sustainable buildings.
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Javed, Haniya, Arianna Brambilla, and Marcus Strang. "A climate-based moisture index approach for hygrothermal analysis in Australia." Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2069, no. 1 (November 1, 2021): 012065. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2069/1/012065.
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Abstract In Australia, one-third of new constructions are affected by condensation and about 50% of buildings suffer from mould risk, mainly due to inappropriate design and management strategies. Despite the potential structural damage and serious health hazards, there is a lack of preventive moisture management strategies at the legislative level. The first hygrothermal management provisions were adopted in the National Construction Code only in 2019, with very general indications that correlate the breathability of the membranes with the climate zone. However, the building code identifies only eight zones for the entire Australia, which were originally developed for thermal analysis and energy efficiency provisions. The result is a coarse climate grid that clusters locations with highly variable humidity conditions. This paper undertakes a semi-empirical approach to identify whether the current climate zones are suitable for hygrothermal purposes. This research represents the first step towards an Australian-specific moisture risks management framework, and it advances the discussion about the suitability of the current hygrothermal design and construction policy and practices. The outcomes reveal the highly variable moisture indices obtained for the different representative cities, affirming the inappropriate use of existing climate zone clustering for hygrothermal assessment purposes.
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Abidi, Sehar, and Priyadarsini Rajagopalan. "Investigating Daylight in the Apartment Buildings in Melbourne, Australia." Infrastructures 5, no. 10 (October 7, 2020): 81. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures5100081.
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Daylighting improves users’ experience in visual comfort, aesthetics, behaviour and perception of space and plays an important part in enhancing the health and wellbeing of occupants inside a dwelling. However, daylighting design is challenging for high rise living since configuration of multiple apartments together often results in deep plans and wrongly oriented apartments with poor daylighting. Melbourne considered as the most liveable city in the world has witnessed a boom in high rise apartments in recent years, where bedrooms were designed without windows or with one small opening. Previous studies indicated that one out of two apartments in Melbourne’s central business district (CBD) failed to provide daylighting in the bedrooms. This has led to amendments in planning policy with the aim of providing access to daylight in all habitable rooms. This paper investigates the daylighting conditions in apartment buildings using field measurement and daylight simulations. Daylight levels in 12 apartment units in Melbourne CBD were measured. Additionally, daylight simulations were conducted to identify ways for optimizing light levels in standard layouts. The field measurements showed that daylighting levels were insufficient in one third the apartments due to the presence of deep floor plates and external obstructions. The results from the daylight simulations showed that window to floor area ratio (WFR) of approximately 30% is required for achieving acceptable daylighting levels in bedrooms that have south orientation.
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Lhendup, T., L. Aye, and R. J. Fuller. "Seasonal coolth storage system for residential buildings in Australia." Journal of Central South University 19, no. 3 (March 2012): 740–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11771-012-1066-6.
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Best, Rick, and Brian Purdey. "Assessing occupant comfort in an iconic sustainable education building." Construction Economics and Building 12, no. 3 (September 11, 2012): 55–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v12i3.2537.
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The building that houses the Mirvac School of Sustainable Development at Bond University is the first educational building to achieve a six Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. It has won numerous awards since opening in August 2008 including being judged the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Sustainable Building of 2009. After more than two years in use a post-occupancy evaluation study was carried out to assess the performance of the building from the viewpoint of the users; both resident staff and transient students. Results for factors such as lighting, thermal comfort, noise and air quality. were compared to benchmarks established by the Usable Buildings Trust. The evaluation also assessed the occupants’ perceptions of the building’s impact on their own productivity. Users generally find the building provides a comfortable work environment although a number of areas of performance were noted as posing some concerns. These included intrusive noise in some parts of the building and some issues with glare in daylit teaching spaces. Such concerns were found to be in accord with the results of previous studies and they highlight some recurrent problems in “green” buildings designed to maximise the use of natural ventilation and natural light. These design challenges and how occupant satisfaction is to be measured and benchmarked are also discussed in the context of this comparative building study.
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Zuo, Jian, Bo Xia, Jake Barker, and Martin Skitmore. "Green buildings for greying people." Facilities 32, no. 7/8 (April 28, 2014): 365–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/f-08-2011-0060.
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Purpose – This paper aims to identify the critical issues to be considered by developers and practitioners when embarking on their first green residential retirement project in Australia. With an increasingly ageing population and widespread acceptance of the need for sustainable development in Australia, the demand for green retirement villages is increasing. Design/methodology/approach – In view of the lack of adequate historical data for quantitative analysis, a case study approach is used to examine the successful delivery of green retirement villages. Face-to-face interviews and document analyses were conducted for data collection. Findings – The findings of the study indicate that one of the major obstacles to the provision of affordable green retirement villages is the higher initial costs involved. However, positive aspects were identified, the most significant of which relate to the innovative design of site and floor plans; adoption of thermally efficient building materials; orientation of windows; installation of water harvesting and recycling systems, water conservation fittings and appliances; and waste management during the construction stage. With the adoption of these measures, it is believed that sustainable retirement development can be achieved without significant additional capital costs. Practical implications – The research findings serve as a guide for developers in decision-making throughout the project life-cycle when introducing green features into the provision of affordable retirement accommodation. Originality/value – This paper provides insights into the means by which affordable green residential retirement projects for aged people can be successfully completed.
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Long, S. A., and R. A. Tinker. "Australian action to reduce health risks from radon." Annals of the ICRP 49, no. 1_suppl (August 3, 2020): 77–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146645320931983.
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In Australia, worker exposure to radon in underground uranium mines has been a focus of policy makers and regulators, and has been well controlled in the industry sector. That cannot be said for public exposure to radon. Radon exposure studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s demonstrated that the levels of radon in Australian homes were some of the lowest in the world. The International Basic Safety Standards, published by the International Atomic Energy Agency, requires the government to establish and implement an action plan for controlling public exposure due to radon indoors. When considering different policy options, it is important to develop radon prevention and mitigation programmes reflecting elements that are unique to the region or country. The Australian Radon Action Plan is being considered at a national level, and presents a long-range strategy designed to reduce radon-induced lung cancer in Australia, as well as the individual risk for people living with high concentrations of radon. In Australia, workers who are not currently designated as occupationally exposed are also considered as members of the public. In the Australian context, there are only a limited set of scenarios that might give rise to sufficiently high radon concentrations that warrant mitigation. These include highly energy efficient buildings in areas of high radon potential, underground workplaces, workplaces with elevated radon concentrations (e.g. spas using natural spring waters), and enclosed workspaces with limited ventilation. The key elements for a successful plan will rely on collaboration between government sectors and other health promotion programmes, cooperative efforts involving technical and communication experts, and partnering with building professionals and other stakeholders involved in the implementation of radon prevention and mitigation.