77 FR 66616 - Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Green Building Advisory Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-06

... Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Green Building Advisory Committee; Notification of Upcoming... and agenda for the November 27, 2012, meeting of the Green Building Advisory Committee Meeting (the... Green Buildings, Office of Government-wide Policy, General Services Administration, 1275 First Street NE...

78 FR 21368 - Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Green Building Advisory Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-10

... Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Green Building Advisory Committee; Notification of Upcoming... and agenda for the May 1, 2013, meeting of the Green Building Advisory Committee Meeting (the... Green Buildings, Office of Government-wide Policy, General Services Administration, 1275 First Street NE...

Modeling the green building (GB) investment decisions of developers and end-users with transaction costs (TCs) considerations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Qian, Q.K.; Chan, E.H.W.; Visscher, H.J.; Lehmann, S.

2015-01-01

The paper, through a “regenerative” lens, has focused upon a new conceptual game system involving transaction costs (TCs) for creating a more accessible green buildings (GB) market. Individual stakeholders steadfastly guard their own interests in any investment decision, which seldom considers any

Green commercial building insurance in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yu Xin Ou; Chew, Boon Cheong; Loo, Heoy Shin; Tan, Lay Hong

2017-03-01

Green building construction is growing tremendously globally even in Malaysia. Currently, there are approximate 636 buildings have registered and to be certified with Green Building Index. Among these buildings, 45 buildings have already fulfilled the requirements and fully certified. The other buildings still under provisional certification stage. Malaysia had adopted Green Building Index in 2009 to support a move to promote green building concept. Malaysia starts to move towards green building because Malaysian construction and building industry realizes that both energy consumed and waste produced are reduced without irreversible impacts to ecosystems. Consequently, insurance companies such as Fireman's Fund from America has started the green building insurance policies for their green building in the year of 2006, while Malaysia still remain the coverage for green buildings using conventional property insurance. There are lacks of efforts to be seen from insurance companies to propose green building insurance for these green buildings. There are a few factors which can take into consideration for insurance companies to start the very first green building insurance in Malaysia. Although there are challenges, some efficient strategies have been identified to overcome the problems. The methods used in this research topic is qualitative research. The results obtained shows that green commercial building insurance has a huge business opportunity in Malaysia because the number of green commercial buildings are increasing tremendously in Malaysia. It is a favor to implement green building insurance in Malaysia. Furthermore, insurance companies can consider to add in extra coverage in standard building policy to provide extra protection for non-certified green buildings which have the intention to rebuilt in green when damage happens. Generally, it is very important to introduce green commercial buildings insurance into Malaysia so that all of the green commercial

77 FR 2296 - Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; the Green Building Advisory Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-17

... Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; the Green Building Advisory Committee; Notification of Upcoming... teleconference meetings of the Green Building Advisory Committee (the Committee). The teleconference meetings are... Federal High Performance Green Buildings, Office of Governmentwide Policy, General Services Administration...

Literature Review of Data on the Incremental Costs to Design and Build Low-Energy Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hunt, W. D.

2008-05-14

This document summarizes findings from a literature review into the incremental costs associated with low-energy buildings. The goal of this work is to help establish as firm an analytical foundation as possible for the Building Technology Program's cost-effective net-zero energy goal in the year 2025.

78 FR 56703 - Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Green Building Advisory Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-13

... Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Green Building Advisory Committee; Notification of Upcoming... Green Building Advisory Committee Meeting (the Committee) and the schedule for a series of conference..., Designated Federal Officer, [[Page 56704

Brief Discussion on Green Building Materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Jia-wei; Sun, Jian

2014-01-01

With more and more emphasizes on the environment and resources, the concept of green buildings has been widely accepted. Building materials are vectors of architectures, only if green building materials and related technical means are used, can we construct green buildings to achieve the purpose of energy conservation and environmental protection. This paper introduces the relationship between green building materials and green buildings, the current situation of green building materials in China, as well as the measures to accelerate the development of green building materials

Low-Cost Phase Change Material for Building Envelopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abhari, Ramin [Renewable Energy Group

2015-08-06

A low-cost PCM process consisting of conversion of fats and oils to PCM-range paraffins, and subsequent “encapsulation” of the paraffin using conventional plastic compounding/pelletizing equipment was demonstrated. The PCM pellets produced were field-tested in a building envelope application. This involved combining the PCM pellets with cellulose insulation, whereby 33% reduction in peak heat flux and 12% reduction in heat gain was observed (average summertime performance). The selling price of the PCM pellets produced according to this low-cost process is expected to be in the $1.50-$3.00/lb range, compared to current encapsulated PCM price of about $7.00/lb. Whole-building simulations using corresponding PCM thermal analysis data suggest a payback time of 8 to 16 years (at current energy prices) for an attic insulation retrofit project in the Phoenix climate area.

CRITICAL FACTORS THAT LEAD TO GREEN BUILDING OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS IN MALAYSIA

OpenAIRE

Izran Sarrazin MOHAMMAD; Nurul Nadiah ZAINOL; Shardy ABDULLAH; Neo Bee WOON; Nur Aqlima RAMLI

2014-01-01

The development of green buildings has become a trend in recent years in the effort to enhance the well-being of the community, environmental health, and life-cycle cost. However, many have argued that the complexities rendered by green buildings during the operational and maintenance phase often overshadow the benefits that can be gained through the development of green buildings. Several factors that lead to complexities in managing and maintaining green buildings have been highlighted by s...

Algae façade as green building method: application of algae as a method to meet the green building regulation

Science.gov (United States)

Poerbo, Heru W.; Martokusumo, Widjaja; Donny Koerniawan, M.; Aulia Ardiani, Nissa; Krisanti, Susan

2017-12-01

The Local Government of Bandung city has stipulated a Green Building regulation through the Peraturan Walikota Number 1023/2016. Signed by the mayor in October 2016, Bandung became the first city in Indonesia that put green building as mandatory requirement in the building permit (IMB) process. Green Building regulation is intended to have more efficient consumption of energy and water, improved indoor air quality, management of liquid and solid waste etc. This objective is attained through various design method in building envelope, ventilation and air conditioning system, lighting, indoor transportation system, and electrical system. To minimize energy consumption of buildings that have large openings, sun shading device is often utilized together with low-E glass panes. For buildings in hot humid tropical climate, this method reduces indoor air temperature and thus requires less energy for air conditioning. Indoor air quality is often done by monitoring the carbon dioxide levels. Application of algae as part of building system façade has recently been introduced as replacement of large glass surface in the building façade. Algae are not yet included in the green building regulation because it is relatively new. The research will investigate, with the help of the modelling process and extensive literature, how effective is the implementation of algae in building façade to reduce energy consumption and improve its indoor air quality. This paper is written based on the design of ITB Innovation Park as an ongoing architectural design-based research how the algae-integrated building façade affects the energy consumption.

Tribal Green Building Toolkit

Science.gov (United States)

This Tribal Green Building Toolkit (Toolkit) is designed to help tribal officials, community members, planners, developers, and architects develop and adopt building codes to support green building practices. Anyone can use this toolkit!

Green roofs and the LEED green building rating system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kula, R. [Sustainable Solutions Inc., Wagoner, OK (United States)

2005-07-01

The sustainable building industry is becoming increasingly aware of the host of public and private benefits that green roofs can provide in built environments. In dense urban environments, green roofs function to reduce stormwater runoff, urban heat island effects, and particulate matter (PM) pollution. The emerging green roof industry is now poised to support the efforts of green building networks in North America. This paper discussed the general benefits of green roofs, and their recognition within the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. A case study of Mountain Equipment Co-op's Winnipeg site was presented. The building's green roof was directly responsible for earning 5 credits and contributing to the achievement of an additional 2 credits under the LEEDS certification process. Credits were earned for reduced site disturbance; landscape design to reduce heat islands; and water efficiency. The green roof at the site provided the vast majority of the building's cooling needs through an evaporative cooling trough. A photovoltaic pump was used to feed the building's irrigation system, as well as to pump ground water through cooling valances. It was concluded that the rise of sustainable building practices and the LEED Green Building Rating System will revolutionize the way new buildings are constructed.

76 FR 35894 - Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Establishment of the Green Building Advisory...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-20

... Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Establishment of the Green Building Advisory Committee AGENCY... announces the establishment of the Green Building Advisory Committee (the Committee), pursuant to Section... strategic plans, products and activities of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings and...

National Green Building Standard Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2012-07-01

DOE's Building America Program is a research and development program to improve the energy performance of new and existing homes. The ultimate goal of the Building America Program is to achieve examples of cost-effective, energy efficient solutions for all U.S. climate zones. Periodic maintenance of an ANSI standard by review of the entire document and action to revise or reaffirm it on a schedule not to exceed five years is required by ANSI. In compliance, a consensus group has once again been formed and the National Green Building Standard is currently being reviewed to comply with the periodic maintenance requirement of an ANSI standard.

Green Building Tools for Tribes

Science.gov (United States)

Tribal green building tools and funding information to support tribal building code adoption, healthy building, siting, energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, green building materials, recycling and adaptation and resilience.

Evaluation of Water Efficiency in Green Building in Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Li Cheng

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Low carbon policies, including those aimed at increasing water efficiency, have been adopted as a crucial strategy for combating global warming and climate change. The green building evaluation system used in Taiwan was first applied in 1999 and initially utilized a building’s water efficiency as the threshold index for determining the building’s environmental impact. Since 1999, more than a thousand buildings have been certified as green buildings using this evaluation system. The quantitative effects of water conservation efforts should be provided to policy makers as a form of positive feedback. To that end, the present study offers a calculation process for estimating the quantitative volume of water saved by practical green buildings. The baseline water usage for all kinds of buildings was determined to serve as the criterion for determining the water-saving efficiency of individual buildings. An investigation of the average water-saving rate from 2000 to 2013 for 1320 buildings certified as green buildings was also conducted to validate the estimation results and found that these green buildings saved an average of approximately 37.6% compared to the baseline water usage rate for all buildings. Water savings will inevitably follow from the use of water-saving appliances or water-saving designs for buildings. The proposed calculation process can be used to clarify the relationships between specific water-saving concepts and the real water usage efficiency of green buildings.

What is a green building?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vreenegoor, R.C.P.; Krikke, T.; Mierlo, van B.P.; Pluijm, van der W.M.P.; Poortvliet, R.; Hensen, J.L.M.; Loomans, M.G.L.C.

2009-01-01

What is a green building? A large amount of definitions and green rating tools prove that an exact definition is still a point of discussion. To research the differences between green rating tools, four different buildings are assessed with: EPN, BREEAM, LEED, GreenCalc+ and EcoQuantum. These tools

Green Building Research Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sailor, David Jean [Portland State Univ., Portland, OR (United States)

2013-12-29

This project provided support to the Green Building Research Laboratory at Portland State University (PSU) so it could work with researchers and industry to solve technical problems for the benefit of the green building industry. It also helped to facilitate the development of PSU’s undergraduate and graduate-level training in building science across the curriculum.

PROSPECTS FOR CERTIFICATION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS ON THE "GREEN" STANDARDS IN UKRAINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TIMOSHENKO E. А.

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Problem formulation. We consider the main principles of urban ecology as a basis for the creation and development of "green" building. The purpose of article. The purpose of this article is to analyze the international certification scheme for buildings "green" standards, as well as the prospects of Ukraine in the formation of national "green" standards in residential construction. Analysis of publications. The main objectives of promotion of "green" building and certification in Ukraine is the union of experts from various fields, training of the relevant standards, the development of the regulatory framework, as well as the market development of ecological materials and services, the positioning "green" construction as a rational approach to the design stage of the building, in the future will help to optimize operating costs. The presentation material. One of the primary tasks of promoting "green" building in Ukraine is to develop a national standard for green building, as there is currently no data on the systems of certified projects LEED, BREEAM and other voluntary rating systems. Conclusions lie in the feasibility of certification of real estate investors, tenants and designers of public buildings.

Green buildings in Malaysia towards greener environment: challenges for policy makers

Science.gov (United States)

Suhaida, M. S.; Tan, K. L.; Leong, Y. P.

2013-06-01

The launch of the National Green Technology Policy (NGTP) in 2009 is a manifesto of the government's seriousness in implementing "green" initiatives for the country. Specifically for buildings, the government promotes the application of renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) and the application of green building index. With the introduction of Low Carbon Cities Framework, Green Pass, Green Neighbourhood, Green Building Index by various agencies and organisations in Malaysia, it is time to look back and see how all these tools could come together. This paper attempts to identify the challenges in harmonising the green initiatives for policy makers toward greener environment for sustainability.

Green buildings pay

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Naboni, Emanuele; Edwards, Brian

The new edition of ‘Green Buildings Pay’ authored by Brian Edwards and Emanuele Naboni explores the business and professional benefits which derive from architectural design driven by sustainability. With a new sub-title ‘Green Buildings Pay: design, productivity and ecology’ the book argues...... that environmental design has altered how we design, construct and manage buildings. The book has relevance to those who not only design and engineer buildings but to those who commission architecture and those who occupy the products of this process. Hence, the user is a key consideration. The book examines via...... a number of LEED and BREEAM cases the buildings which flow from corporate environmental responsibility. A number of office and university buildings are examined from three main perspectives- the architect, client and user. One key finding is that architectural innovation has been driven by ecological...

An environmental cost-benefit analysis of alternative green roofing strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, M.; William, R. K.; Goodwell, A. E.; Le, P. V.; Kumar, P.; Stillwell, A. S.

2016-12-01

Green roofs and cool roofs are alternative roofing strategies that mitigate urban heat island effects and improve building energy performance. Green roofs consist of soil and vegetation layers that provide runoff reduction, thermal insulation, and potential natural habitat, but can require regular maintenance. Cool roofs involve a reflective layer that reflects more sunlight than traditional roofing materials, but require additional insulation during winter months. This study evaluates several roofing strategies in terms of energy performance, urban heat island mitigation, water consumption, and economic cost. We use MLCan, a multi-layer canopy model, to simulate irrigated and non-irrigated green roof cases with shallow and deep soil depths during the spring and early summer of 2012, a drought period in central Illinois. Due to the dry conditions studied, periodic irrigation is implemented in the model to evaluate its effect on evapotranspiration. We simulate traditional and cool roof scenarios by altering surface albedo and omitting vegetation and soil layers. We find that both green roofs and cool roofs significantly reduce surface temperature compared to the traditional roof simulation. Cool roof temperatures always remain below air temperature and, similar to traditional roofs, require low maintenance. Green roofs remain close to air temperature and also provide thermal insulation, runoff reduction, and carbon uptake, but might require irrigation during dry periods. Due to the longer lifetime of a green roof compared to cool and traditional roofs, we find that green roofs realize the highest long term cost savings under simulated conditions. However, using longer-life traditional roof materials (which have a higher upfront cost) can help decrease this price differential, making cool roofs the most affordable option due to the higher maintenance costs associated with green roofs

A Study to Compare the Cost of Operation and Maintenance in Green Building Index (GBI and Non-Green Building Index (Non-GBI Rated Building in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping Lee Zheng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Urges for sustainable development had pushed the government and professional bodies to respond and react by implementing regulations where possible to direct development in that manner. However, the outcome in most financial conferences and dialogues on sustainable buildings flagged on high construction and maintenance cost. Thus, this study is conducted to collect and analyze actual building operation and maintenance cost between GBI and Non-GBI rated buildings in Malaysia which are more than 2 years fully operated buildings. There are two categories of selected buildings which are residential and non-residential type of building. Each category of the building consists of similar building’s characteristic such as geographic location, mode of operation, building heights, total numbers of floors and units. The scope of building’s maintenance for this study is mainly on wear and tear of the wall painting, electrical light fittings, ceiling panels, roofing system and mechanical services like water pump system are recorded for their replacement frequency of service and the cost involved within a consistent period of 12 months operation at cost percentage saving of 78.9% and 40.4% for residential and non-residential buildings respectively compare against Non-GBI rated buildings. Electricity consumption for GBI rated buildings are lower than Non-GBI rated buildings which recorded at the cost variance of 23.8% and 6.3% and water consumption at 35.9% and 44.0% for the above mentioned two main categories of selected case study buildings. Results from this study conclude major savings on residential buildings category in term of maintenance cost and electricity consumption for GBI rated buildings. Whereby, non-residential category of buildings, GBI rated building had been proven to obtain significant savings in terms of maintenance cost and water consumption.

The High Rise Low Cost Housing : Sustainable Neighbourhood Elements (Green Elements) in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Wahi, Noraziah; Mohamad, Ismail; Mohamad Zin, Rosli; Munikanan, Vikneswaran; Junaini, Syahrizan

2018-03-01

The sustainable development is a vital measure to alleviate the greenhouse gas effect, global warming and any other environment issues. The sustainable neighbourhood concept is not new in Malaysia, However, the concept still needs attention and awareness from the stakeholders. This paper discusses on the sustainable neighbourhood elements specifically green elements application on the high rise low cost housing in Malaysia. Malaysia should have focused sustainable neighbourhood planning and design especially on the high rise low cost housing therefore the future generation can be benefited from this type development.

The Priority Importance of Economic Motivation Factors Against Risks for Green Building Development in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Ghazali Farid Ezanee

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Green building development is an emerging paradigm for the construction industry practice all around the world. The establishement of Green Building rating tool helps to assess the whole life cycle process in planning to operation in a building. The Malaysian construction industry recognizes buildings that have been assessed using established green building tool such Green Building Index, Green RE or My CREST. Eventhough these rating tools provide motivation factors in its criteria and sub-criteria to promote sustainability in Malaysia buildings, there is still a major doubt to developers in terms of risks that may hinder their investments in green buildings. This paper highlights the priority importance of economic motivation factors against risks in the green building development in Malaysia. The data presented in this paper have been mainly derived from responses received through questionnaires completed by building stakeholders involved in green building developments. In order to determine the priority importance of economic motivation factors and risks identified for green building development, the questionnaire outcomes have been thoroughly assessed using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP method. As a result, lack of government incentive and high capital cost, which classified under green building risks, are the two key factors with highest priority importance that influenced most of the decision making for green building development in Malaysia. The results show green buildings have proliferated as governmental support and incentives with more exampler of higher profit return of investment in enhancing developers preference for green building development.

Green roofs: roof system reducing heating and cooling costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konasova, Sarka

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Green roofs are among the passive building systems that contribute to the thermal stability of the rooms under the roof in both summer and winter. Green roofs can provide a significant contribution to the thermal balance of the protected space. Over the past ten years, many studies have been carried out to investigate the energy benefits of green roofs in terms of the energy performance of buildings. These studies show that the installation of vegetated cover can achieve energy savings for both winter heating and summer cooling. The green roof, as a thermal insulation, reduces the amount of building operating energy costs and reduces heat losses. This article summarizes current literature and points to situations in which green roofs can play an important role in saving energy for heating and cooling due to improved thermal insulating function of the roof, in case of extensive vegetation coverage without significant overloading of the roof structure and associated over-dimensioning. It is important to note that these energy savings always depend on the particular climate, the type of building and the availability and the type of roof structure.

Green Building Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Many organizations have developed model codes or rating systems that communities may use to develop green building programs or revise building ordinances. Some of the major options are listed on this page.

PLACE-BASED GREEN BUILDING: INTEGRATING LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND PLANNING ANALYSIS INTO GREEN BUILDING GUIDELINES

Science.gov (United States)

This project will develop a model for place-based green building guidelines based on an analysis of local environmental, social, and land use conditions. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a methodology and model for placing green buildings within their local cont...

Key Practice for Green Building Management In Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Aghili Nasim; Bin Mohammed Abdul Hakim; Sheau-Ting Low

2016-01-01

This paper identifies the management practices for green building management in Malaysia. A set of practices was ascertained from the reviewed of various established Green Building Standard in the world. Green building practices are significant role in attaining sustainability particularly in the construction industry. Green building is constructed for minimizing impacts to environment as well as decreasing building effects on occupants. To achieve the goals of green buildings, set of managem...

Summary of Green Building Programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2002-08-01

In early 2002, the National Association of Home Builders completed a census of residential green building programs across the United States to assess differences and similarities among programs. This report catalogs different ways that builders participate in residential green building programs.

Environmental Perceptions and Health before and after Relocation to a Green Building.

Science.gov (United States)

MacNaughton, Piers; Spengler, John; Vallarino, Jose; Santanam, Suresh; Satish, Usha; Allen, Joseph

2016-08-01

Green buildings are designed to have low environmental impacts and improved occupant health and well-being. Improvements to the built environment including ventilation, lighting, and materials have resulted in improved indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in green buildings, but the evidence around occupant health is currently centered around environmental perceptions and self-reported health. To investigate the objective impact of green buildings on health, we tracked IEQ, self-reported health, and heart rate in 30 participants from green and conventional buildings for two weeks. 24 participants were then selected to be relocated to the Syracuse Center of Excellence, a LEED platinum building, for six workdays. While they were there, ventilation, CO 2 , and volatile organic compound (VOC) levels were changed on different days to match the IEQ of conventional, green, and green+ (green with increased ventilation) buildings. Participants reported improved air quality, odors, thermal comfort, ergonomics, noise and lighting and fewer health symptoms in green buildings prior to relocation. After relocation, participants consistently reported fewer symptoms during the green building conditions compared to the conventional one, yet symptom counts were more closely associated with environmental perceptions than with measured IEQ. On average, participants had 4.7 times the odds of reporting a lack of air movement, 1.4 more symptoms (p-value = 0.019) and a 2 bpm higher heart rate (p-value green and conventional buildings is driven by both environmental perceptions and physiological pathways.

The potential of building envelope greening to achieve quietness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Renterghem, T.; Hornikx, M.C.J.; Forssén, J.; Botteldooren, D.

2013-01-01

Reduction of noise is one of the multiple benefits of building envelope greening measures. The potential of wall vegetation systems, green roofs, vegetated low screens at roof edges, and also combinations of such treatments, have been studied by means of combining 2D and 3D full-wave numerical

Fungal Microbiomes Associated with Green and Non-Green Building Materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Coombs, Kanistha; Vesper, Stephen; Green, Brett J; Yermakov, Mikhail; Reponen, Tiina

2017-01-01

Water-damaged buildings can lead to fungal growth and occupant health problems. Green building materials, derived from renewable sources, are increasingly utilized in construction and renovations. However, the question as to what fungi will grow on these green compared to non-green materials, after they get wet, has not been adequately studied. By determining what fungi grow on each type of material, the potential health risks can be more adequately assessed. In this study, we inoculated green and non-green pieces of ceiling tile, composite board, drywall, and flooring with indoor dust containing a complex mixture of naturally occurring fungi. The materials were saturated with water and incubated for two months in a controlled environment. The resulting fungal microbiomes were evaluated using ITS amplicon sequencing. Overall, the richness and diversity of the mycobiomes on each pair of green and non-green pieces were not significantly different. However, different genera dominated on each type of material. For example, Aspergillus spp. had the highest relative abundance on green and non-green ceiling tiles and green composite boards, but Peniophora spp. dominated the non-green composite board. In contrast, Penicillium spp. dominated green and non-green flooring samples. Green gypsum board was dominated by Phialophora spp. and Stachybotrys spp., but non-green gypsum board by Myrothecium spp. These data suggest that water-damaged green and non-green building materials can result in mycobiomes that are dominated by fungal genera whose member species pose different potentials for health risks.

Building Momentum: National Trends and Prospects for High-Performance Green Buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

2003

This report is an outgrowth of the Green Building Roundtable of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held in conjunction with the U.S. Green Building Council on April 24, 2002. The roundtable brought together diverse interests to educate members of Congress on green building trends and generated discussion about the economic…

Transforming Ordinary Buildings into Smart Buildings via Low-Cost, Self-Powering Wireless Sensors & Sensor Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Philip [Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)

2017-06-09

The research objective of this project is to design and demonstrate a low-cost, compact, easy-to-deploy, maintenance-free sensor node technology, and a network of such sensors, which enable the monitoring of multiphysical parameters and can transform today’s ordinary buildings into smart buildings with environmental awareness. We develop the sensor node and network via engineering and integration of existing technologies, including high-efficiency mechanical energy harvesting, and ultralow-power integrated circuits (ICs) for sensing and wireless communication. Through integration and innovative power management via specifically designed low-power control circuits for wireless sensing applications, and tailoring energy-harvesting components to indoor applications, the target products will have smaller volume, higher efficiency, and much lower cost (in both manufacturing and maintenance) than the baseline technology. Our development and commercialization objective is to create prototypes for our target products under the CWRU-Intwine collaboration.

Energy savings, emission reductions, and health co-benefits of the green building movement.

Science.gov (United States)

P, MacNaughton; X, Cao; J, Buonocore; J, Cedeno-Laurent; J, Spengler; A, Bernstein; J, Allen

2018-06-01

Buildings consume nearly 40% of primary energy production globally. Certified green buildings substantially reduce energy consumption on a per square foot basis and they also focus on indoor environmental quality. However, the co-benefits to health through reductions in energy and concomitant reductions in air pollution have not been examined.We calculated year by year LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification rates in six countries (the United States, China, India, Brazil, Germany, and Turkey) and then used data from the Green Building Information Gateway (GBIG) to estimate energy savings in each country each year. Of the green building rating schemes, LEED accounts for 32% of green-certified floor space and publically reports energy efficiency data. We employed Harvard's Co-BE Calculator to determine pollutant emissions reductions by country accounting for transient energy mixes and baseline energy use intensities. Co-BE applies the social cost of carbon and the social cost of atmospheric release to translate these reductions into health benefits. Based on modeled energy use, LEED-certified buildings saved $7.5B in energy costs and averted 33MT of CO 2 , 51 kt of SO 2 , 38 kt of NO x , and 10 kt of PM 2.5 from entering the atmosphere, which amounts to $5.8B (lower limit = $2.3B, upper limit = $9.1B) in climate and health co-benefits from 2000 to 2016 in the six countries investigated. The U.S. health benefits derive from avoiding an estimated 172-405 premature deaths, 171 hospital admissions, 11,000 asthma exacerbations, 54,000 respiratory symptoms, 21,000 lost days of work, and 16,000 lost days of school. Because the climate and health benefits are nearly equivalent to the energy savings for green buildings in the United States, and up to 10 times higher in developing countries, they provide an important and previously unquantified societal value. Future analyses should consider these co-benefits when weighing policy

Building Evidence for Health: Green Buildings, Current Science, and Future Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Cedeño-Laurent, J G; Williams, A; MacNaughton, P; Cao, X; Eitland, E; Spengler, J; Allen, J

2018-04-01

Civilizational challenges have questioned the status quo of energy and material consumption by humans. From the built environment perspective, a response to these challenges was the creation of green buildings. Although the revolutionary capacity of the green building movement has elevated the expectations of new commercial construction, its rate of implementation has secluded the majority of the population from its benefits. Beyond reductions in energy usage and increases in market value, the main strength of green buildings may be the procurement of healthier building environments. Further pursuing the right to healthy indoor environments could help the green building movement to attain its full potential as a transformational public health tool. On the basis of 40 years of research on indoor environmental quality, we present a summary of nine environment elements that are foundational to human health. We posit the role of green buildings as a critical research platform within a novel sustainability framework based on social-environmental capital assets.

A simple, scalable and low-cost method to generate thermal diagnostics of a domestic building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papafragkou, Anastasios; Ghosh, Siddhartha; James, Patrick A.B.; Rogers, Alex; Bahaj, AbuBakr S.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Our diagnostic method uses a single field measurement from a temperature logger. • Building technical performance and occupant behaviour are addressed simultaneously. • Our algorithm learns a thermal model of a home and diagnoses the heating system. • We propose a novel clustering approach to decouple user behaviour from technical performance. • Our diagnostic confidence is enhanced using a large scale deployment. - Abstract: Traditional approaches to understand the problem of the energy performance in the domestic sector include on-site surveys by energy assessors and the installation of complex home energy monitoring systems. The time and money that needs to be invested by the occupants and the form of feedback generated by these approaches often makes them unattractive to householders. This paper demonstrates a simple, low cost method that generates thermal diagnostics for dwellings, measuring only one field dataset; internal temperature over a period of 1 week. A thermal model, which is essentially a learning algorithm, generates a set of thermal diagnostics about the primary heating system, the occupants’ preferences and the impact of certain interventions, such as lowering the thermostat set-point. A simple clustering approach is also proposed to categorise homes according to their building fabric thermal performance and occupants’ energy efficiency with respect to ventilation. The advantage of this clustering approach is that the occupants receive tailored advice on certain actions that if taken will improve the overall thermal performance of a dwelling. Due to the method’s low cost and simplicity it could facilitate government initiatives, such as the ‘Green Deal’ in the UK

Ten questions concerning green buildings and indoor air quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steinemann, Anne; Wargocki, Pawel; Rismanchi, Behzad

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the concern that green buildings may promote energy efficiency and other aspects of sustainability, but not necessarily the health and well-being of occupants through better indoor air quality (IAQ). We ask ten questions to explore IAQ challenges for green buildings as well...... as opportunities to improve IAQ within green buildings and their programs. Our focus is on IAQ, while recognizing that many factors influence human health and the healthfulness of a building. We begin with an overview of green buildings, IAQ, and whether and how green building certifications address IAQ. Next, we...... examine evidence on whether green buildings have better IAQ than comparable conventional buildings. Then, we identify so-called green practices and green products that can have unintended and unfavorable effects on IAQ. Looking ahead, we offer both immediate and longer-term actions, and a set of research...

Green Buildings Amid Efficiency and Sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalifa, Yousef M.; Mady, Salah M.

2014-01-01

The vast increase of energy consumption, global warming and the harm they cause to the environment, emerge to be a major obstruction that distresses the world today. This review paper views one of the methods that the world focused on as means of reducing the environmental harms and that is, through green building, or in more common words sustainable buildings. Those means, covers the exercising of a wide range of applications including merging of new and specific technologies in which through fulfilling its basis, the process of evaluation of the building takes place in terms of its harmony with the environment, reduction of energy consumption, and the reduction of the environmental problems caused by the building life cycle starting from defining of location, design of the building, operation, maintenance, repairing and up to the renewal of the building. Despite the significance of green building, no profit nor implementations has yet been made in Libya. The latter is due to the lack of awareness by many Libyan social groups. From here, the idea behind this paper crystallized. It aims to spread and enhance the knowledge and techniques of green building. It also penetrates into the green building features and advantages that are considered to be a preliminary step to start its application in a wide range coinciding with the grand progress that the country has witnessed in the field of construction and housing. This paper concludes that it is possible to reduce energy consumption and the harm it causes to the environment after the implementation and merging of green building techniques and should be applied on a large scale covering the whole country.(author)

Low-cost housing developments in South Africa miss the opportunities for household level urban greening

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chackleton, C.; Hebinck, P.G.M.; Kaoma, M.; Chishaleshale, M.; Shackleton, S.; Gambiza, J.; Gumbo, D.

2014-01-01

Most developing countries of the world are experiencing large-scale migration from rural to urban areas. Many new migrants end up in low-cost or informal areas and slums with attendant environmental concerns. One dimension of improved urban sustainability is the provision of green spaces and trees.

It's Not Easy Building Green.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, Joseph

2003-01-01

Discusses green buildings, facilities designed, constructed, and operated in an environmentally friendly and resource-efficient way. Discusses reasons for campuses to "go green," the "shades of green" or variations in environmental-friendliness, certification through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, financial…

Introduction: Green Building Handbook

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

2010-08-01

Full Text Available By recognising the specific environmental challenges facing South Africa, mindful of the government‘s commitment to reducing South Africa‘s Greenhouse gas emissions, and acknowledging the need to build social cohesion, the Green Building Handbook...

76 FR 65511 - Office of Governmentwide Policy; Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; the Green...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-21

... Governmentwide Policy; Office of Federal High- Performance Green Buildings; the Green Building Advisory Committee... meeting of the Green Building Advisory Committee Meeting (the Committee). The meeting is open to the..., Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, Office of Governmentwide Policy, General Services...

Strategies for Promoting Green Building Technologies Adoption in the Construction Industry—An International Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Albert Ping Chuen Chan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Because green building technologies (GBTs adoption is a promising way of ameliorating the sustainability performance of buildings, GBTs are receiving increased interest in the global construction community. The barriers to the adoption of GBTs, such as higher cost and lack of awareness, further indicate that proper strategies need to be devised for promoting the wider adoption of GBTs in buildings development. However, there exist limited empirical studies identifying the strategies for promoting GBTs adoption in the construction industry. This study aims to identify the strategies that are important for promoting GBTs adoption in construction. After a comprehensive literature review to identify strategies for the promotion of GBTs adoption, empirical data were gleaned through a questionnaire survey with 104 green building experts around the world. The analysis results validated the importance of all of the 12 promotion strategies used for the study. Green building experts from different countries and with different backgrounds had significant agreement on the relative importance ranking of the promotion strategies. Furthermore, “financial and further market-based incentives for GBTs adopters”, “availability of better information on cost and benefits of GBTs”, “mandatory governmental policies and regulations”, and “green rating and labeling” were identified as the top four important promotion strategies. The research findings provide a valuable reference to assist practitioners and policy makers in developing practical strategies for promoting GBTs adoption to eventually achieve the sustainable development of buildings. From the perspective of international experts, this study adds to the green building literature by offering empirical evidence of the important strategies for promoting GBTs adoption in the construction industry. Future research will investigate the interrelationships among the promotion strategies and their

ENERGY STAR and Green Buildings--Using ENERGY STAR Resources for Green Building Rating Systems: LEED[R], Green Globes[R] and CHPS

Science.gov (United States)

Utebay, Kudret

2011-01-01

Every building, from the smallest school to the tallest skyscraper, uses energy. This energy is most often generated by burning fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. Existing commercial buildings offer a significant opportunity for low-cost, immediate emissions and energy cost…

Green buildings need good ergonomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedge, A; Dorsey, J A

2013-01-01

A retrospective post-occupancy evaluation survey of 44 occupants in two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum buildings on a US college campus is reported. The Internet survey covered a range of indoor environment and ergonomics issues. Results show that working in these buildings were a generally positive experience for their health, performance and satisfaction. However, in one building there were persistent issues of variability in air temperature, air freshness, air quality and noise that affected the perceived health and performance of the occupants. Although the buildings were energy-efficient and sustainable structures, ergonomics design issues were identified. Implications for the role of ergonomics in green buildings and in the US LEED rating system are discussed. This survey identified a number of ergonomics design issues present in the LEED Platinum energy-efficient and sustainable buildings that were studied. These results highlight the importance of integrating ergonomics design into green buildings as a component in the US LEED rating system.

Singapore's Aarden City Construction and Green Building Development

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Chenhui; Chen, Jian

2018-05-01

The government of Singapore has a high demand for city construction planning always adhere to the implementation of "garden city " theory. Singapore’s government has been following the "sustainable" of Singapore's requirement and fully embodies the "green building" and "environmental protection"concept. To set the ecological construction and protection of water resources as the total target, minimize damage to the environment of economic development, make Singapore a pioneer "green building". In recent years, the Chinese government is promoting green building but harvest little, in this case, for the development of "green building", China can draw lessons from Singapore's experience.

Theoretical Explanations of Environmental Motivations and Expectations of Clients on Green Building Demand and Investment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joachim, Onuoha Iheanyichukwu; Kamarudin, Norhaya; Aliagha, Godwin Uche; Ufere, Kalu Joseph

2015-01-01

In building industry, green demand and investment creates a positive footprint on the environment. However, these environmental opportunities have not been adequately harnessed and explored by Clients of green building apparently because of poor understanding of the motivating drivers and benefits accruing from green building demand and investment. The decision to demand for or invest in green building is influenced by certain environmental motivating drivers and expectations which have not been fully examined by researchers and not well understood by stakeholders. Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Theory of Value Belief Norm (VBN) explanations, this study focused on the Clients, purchasers and users' motivations and intentions to go for green building. Based on the reviewed theories, we hypothesized that environmental motivations and expectations for green building demand and investment are embedded in the environmental quest for protection of eco-system and bio-diversity, improvement of water and air quality, reduction of solid waste, conservation of natural resources, reduction of societal costs of landfill creation and maintenance, minimization of site impact and reduction emission to air and enhanced energy efficiency. However, the predictive validity of these propositions depends on the client's beliefs, values, social pressure, and perceived behavioural control

77 FR 43084 - Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-23

... Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act; Notification of... High- Performance Green Buildings, Office of Governmentwide Policy, General Services Administration... download from the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Building Web site Library at-- http://www.gsa...

Standardization of green building technologies for environment design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benuzh Andrey

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article describes the structure and field of standardization ISO / TC 205 “Building environment design”, provides examples of green building technologies. The main purpose of the article is to show the interaction between international ISO / TC 205 “Building environment design” and created in Russia in 2016 the Technical Committee of Standardization № 366 “Green technology of the build environment and green innovative products”. Both of these technical committees promote green building technologies for environment design, thereby deal with the negative impact on the environment and the reasons of global warming. Instead of buildings that attempt to suppress and overcome nature, why not design buildings that integrate with the environment, on every possible level? The international standardization work which ISO/TC 205 “Building environment design” performs seeks, in addition to lowering trade barriers for engineering design, to promote and facilitate the design of high performance buildings: higher performing as economic assets for their owners, higher performing as buildings that provide amenable indoor environment for their occupants, and higher performing with respect to resource utilization and environmental impact.

Sustainable Building in China—A Green Leap Forward?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jialiang Wang

2013-09-01

Full Text Available China is constructing new commercial buildings at an enormous rate—roughly 2 billion square meters per year, with considerable interest and activity in green design and construction. We review the context of commercial building design and construction in China, and look at a specific project as an example of a high performance, sustainable design, the Shenzhen Institute of Building Research (IBR. The IBR building incorporates over 40 sustainable technologies and strategies, including daylighting, natural ventilation, gray-water recycling, solar-energy generation, and highly efficient Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC systems. We present measured data on the performance of the building, including detailed analysis by energy end use, water use, and occupant comfort and satisfaction. Total building energy consumption in 2011 was 1151 MWh, with an Energy Use Intensity (EUI of 63 kWh/m2 (20 kBtu/ft2, which is 61% of the mean EUI value of 103 kWh/m2 (33 kBtu/ft2 for similar buildings in the region. We also comment on the unique design process, which incorporated passive strategies throughout the building, and has led to high occupant satisfaction with the natural ventilation, daylighting, and green patio work areas. Lastly we present thoughts on how the design philosophy of the IBR building can be a guide for low-energy design in different climate regions throughout China and elsewhere.

Assessment Framework of Building Facade in Optimizing Indoor Thermal Comfort of Green Building Index (GBI Certified Office Building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Tharim Asniza Hamimi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available During the past decade, the construction industry has seen a new trend in the development of “green” or “sustainable” construction concept around the world with vast support from prominent organization, together with the introduction of sustainable building codes. The establishment of green building certification systems worldwide is seen as one of the most efforts in the emerging green building movement. In order to support the development of the “green” and “sustainable” concept in Malaysia, Green Building Index (GBI was launched by the government on 21 May 2009 that created to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise awareness of environmental issues. However, the construction industry seems to have focused only on findings the “right mechanism” for an environmentally sustainable “final result” in order for the building to be certified as green with the lacking of continuous assessment on the building performance after the certifications. This study is purposely conducted to investigate the performance of various rated Green Building Index (GBI Non-Residential New Construction office buildings and the influence on Indoor Thermal Comfort (ITC of the selected buildings. The aim is to develop an assessment framework for optimum green building architectural façade to be used for office buildings in Malaysia as well as to analyse the occupants’ perception, satisfaction and performance in the selected Green Building Index (GBI rated office indoor environment. This research is still in its infancy; therefore the paper is focused on research aims, research scope and methodology, and expected deliverables for the proposed research.

Model-Based Building Detection from Low-Cost Optical Sensors Onboard Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Karantzalos, K.; Koutsourakis, P.; Kalisperakis, I.; Grammatikopoulos, L.

2015-08-01

The automated and cost-effective building detection in ultra high spatial resolution is of major importance for various engineering and smart city applications. To this end, in this paper, a model-based building detection technique has been developed able to extract and reconstruct buildings from UAV aerial imagery and low-cost imaging sensors. In particular, the developed approach through advanced structure from motion, bundle adjustment and dense image matching computes a DSM and a true orthomosaic from the numerous GoPro images which are characterised by important geometric distortions and fish-eye effect. An unsupervised multi-region, graphcut segmentation and a rule-based classification is responsible for delivering the initial multi-class classification map. The DTM is then calculated based on inpaininting and mathematical morphology process. A data fusion process between the detected building from the DSM/DTM and the classification map feeds a grammar-based building reconstruction and scene building are extracted and reconstructed. Preliminary experimental results appear quite promising with the quantitative evaluation indicating detection rates at object level of 88% regarding the correctness and above 75% regarding the detection completeness.

Tribal Green Building Administrative Code Example

Science.gov (United States)

This Tribal Green Building Administrative Code Example can be used as a template for technical code selection (i.e., building, electrical, plumbing, etc.) to be adopted as a comprehensive building code.

Green buildings: Implications for acousticians

Science.gov (United States)

Noble, Michael R.

2005-04-01

This presentation will deal with the practical implications of green design protocols of the US Green Building Council on interior acoustics of buildings. Three areas of particular consequence to acousticians will be discussed. Ventilation Systems: reduced energy consumption goals dictate reliance on natural cooling and ventilation using ambient air when possible. The consequent large openings in the building envelope to bring fresh air into rooms, and similar sized openings to transfer the mixed air out, can severely compromise the noise isolation of the rooms concerned. Radiant Cooling: the heavy concrete floors of buildings can be used as a thermal flywheel to lessen the cooling load, which forces the concrete ceilings to be exposed to the occupied rooms for heat transfer, and strictly limits the application of acoustical absorption on the ceilings. This challenges the room acoustics design. Green Materials: the LEED protocols require the elimination of potentially harmful finishes, including fibrous materials which may impact air quality or contribute to health problems. Since the backbone of sound absorption is glass and mineral fibres, this further challenges provision of superior room acoustics. Examples and commentary will be provided based on current and recent projects.

Potential Retrofit of Existing Sultan Ismail Parliament Building, Johor to Green Building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasin Mohd Norazam

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of retrofitting an existing building towards green building was introduced to move towards greener development. This paper investigates the benefits of retrofitting an existing building to green building. The potential retrofit of the existing Sultan Ismail Parliament building was also determined and later the elements of the building to be retrofitted were proposed. The Sultan Ismail Parliament building is one of the newest development that serves as the Johor state administrative center under Iskandar Malaysia. Therefore, this paper focuses on whether the existing building has fulfilled all of the green building elements. A set of questionnaire was distributed to the targeted respondents who were the engineers, architects, technicians, staffs and those who were involved in the development of the Sultan Ismail Parliament building. A total of 60 respondents was involved. Based on the analyzed data, it shows that the existing building has fulfilled only one of the green building elements which is the Indoor Environmental Quality. The items that scored 3.5 and above mean index under this element include the daylight glare is not bothering, the ventilation in the building is adequate, inspections are done regularly, smoking regulation is implemented and the number of openings of windows and doors is sufficient. While it shows that other elements were only partially fulfilled. The criteria that achieved below 3.5 mean index values is considered to be the potential elements that could be used for future retrofitting initiative.

Application of BIM technology in green building material management system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhineng, Tong

2018-06-01

The current green building materials management system in China's construction industry is not perfect, and there are still many shortcomings. Active construction of green building materials management system based on BIM technology, combined with the characteristics of green building materials and its relationship with BIM technology application, is urgently needed to better realize the scientific management of green building materials.

Green Building Implementation at Schools in North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Harimu, D. A. J.; Tumanduk, M. S. S. S.

2018-02-01

This research aims at investigating the green building implementation at schools in North Sulawesi, Indonesia; and to analysis the relationship between implementation of green building concept at school with students’ green behaviour. This research is Survey Research with quantitative descriptive method. The analysis unit is taken purposively, that is school that had been implemented the green building concept, Manado’s 3rd Public Vocational High School, Lokon High School at Tomohon, Manado Independent School at North Minahasa, and Tondano’s 3rd Public Vocational High School. Data collecting is acquired by observation and questionnaire. The Assessment Criteria of green building on Analysis Unit, is taken from Greenship Existing Building ver 1. There are 4 main points that being assessed, which are Energy Conservation and Efficiency; Water Conservation; Indoor Health and Comfort; Waste Managerial. The Analysis technique used in this research is the simple regression analysis. The result of the research shows that there is a significant relation between green building implementation at school and students’ green behavior. The result is accordance with the Gesalts Psychologist theories, that architecture can change the user’s behaviour.

Sustainable Building in China -- A Green Leap Forward?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diamond, Richard [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Ye, Qing [Shenzhen Inst. of Building Research (China); Feng, Wei [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Yan, Tao [Shenzhen Inst. of Building Research (China); Mao, Hongwei [Shenzhen Inst. of Building Research (China); Li, Yutong [Shenzhen Inst. of Building Research (China); Guo, Yongcong [Shenzhen Inst. of Building Research (China); Wang, Jialiang [Shenzhen Inst. of Building Research (China)

2013-09-01

China is constructing new commercial buildings at an enormous rate -- roughly 2 billion square meters per year, with considerable interest and activity in green design and construction. We review the context of commercial building design and construction in China, and look at a specific project as an example of a high performance, sustainable design, the Shenzhen Institute of Building Research (IBR). The IBR building incorporates over 40 sustainable technologies and strategies, including daylighting, natural ventilation, gray-water recycling, solar-energy generation, and highly efficient Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. We present measured data on the performance of the building, including detailed analysis by energy end use, water use, and occupant comfort and satisfaction. Total building energy consumption in 2011 was 1151 MWh, with an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 63 kWh/m² (20 kBtu/ft²), which is 61% of the mean EUI value of 103 kWh/m² (33 kBtu/ft²) for similar buildings in the region. We also comment on the unique design process, which incorporated passive strategies throughout the building, and has led to high occupant satisfaction with the natural ventilation, daylighting, and green patio work areas. Lastly we present thoughts on how the design philosophy of the IBR building can be a guide for low-energy design in different climate regions throughout China and elsewhere.

The status quo of green-building education in South Africa

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2015-10-30

Oct 30, 2015 ... on projects in the property-development industry. The purpose of this study ... adequate technical understanding of sustainable building methods. ... skills in green building as promptly as role players in the green-building sector might .... The body of knowledge about sustainability and green buildings is ...

Greening Existing Buildings in Contemporary Iraqi Urban Reality/ Virtual Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saba Jabar Neama Al-Khafaji

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The approach of greening existing buildings, is an urgent necessity, because the greening operation provides the speed and optimal efficiency in the environmental performance, as well as keeping up with the global green architecture revolution. Therefore, greening existing buildings in Iraq is important for trends towards renewable energies, because of what the country went through economic conditions and crises and wars which kept the country away from what took place globally in this issue. The research problem is: insufficient knowledge about the importance and the mechanism of the greening of existing buildings, including its environmental and economic dimensions, by rationalization of energy consumption and preserving the environment. The research objective is: clarifying the importance of greening existing buildings environmentally and economically, providing a virtual experience for greening the presidency building of Baghdad University, through advanced computer program. The main conclusions is: there is difference representing by reducing the disbursed thermal loads amount for cooling in summer and heating in winter through the use of computerized program (DesignBuilder and that after the implementation of greening operations on the building envelope, which confirms its effectiveness in raising the energy performance efficiency inside the building. Hence, the importance of the application of greening existing buildings approach in Iraq, to bring back Iraqi architecture to environmental and local track proper.

The impact of green building approach to office property value

Science.gov (United States)

Sitanggang, Yosephine; Susanto, Dalhar

2017-12-01

A real estate development often produces negative impacts towards the environment such as the reduction of the ecological capacity in the site and its surroundings, energy exploitation, and excessive pollutant emission. To overcome these issues, the green building concept or approach has been adapted by several real estate businesses in Indonesia especially in the office sector. According to the data provided by GBCI in 2017, there are 17 buildings listed as a certified green building office in various levels. As what has been known, the green building approach results in the increase of price in the planning, construction and the building's maintenance. This paper will discuss about the research results regarding the effect of the green building approach towards the property value of office buildings especially in Jakarta. The research will be executed through the comparison method, which is the process of comparing office building that have already adapted the green building concept with the one that have not, or in other words, the conventional office buildings. Data gathering is done through observation and interviews with developers and building managers. The research results show that by adapting the green building approach for office buildings in Jakarta, the property value regarding the utility, scarcity, effective demands, and transferability aspect can increase.

Low-Cost Bio-Based Phase Change Materials as an Energy Storage Medium in Building Envelopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Biswas, Kaushik [ORNL; Abhari, Mr. Ramin [Renewable Energy Group, Inc.; Shukla, Dr. Nitin [Fraunhofer USA, Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE), Boston; Kosny, Dr. Jan [Fraunhofer USA, Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE), Boston

2015-01-01

A promising approach to increasing the energy efficiency of buildings is the implementation of phase change material (PCM) in building envelope systems. Several studies have reported the energy saving potential of PCM in building envelopes. However, wide application of PCMs in building applications has been inhibited, in part, by their high cost. This article describes a novel paraffin product made of naturally occurring fatty acids/glycerides trapped into high density polyethylene (HDPE) pellets and its performance in a building envelope application, with the ultimate goal of commercializing a low-cost PCM platform. The low-cost PCM pellets were mixed with cellulose insulation, installed in external walls and field-tested under natural weatherization conditions for a period of several months. In addition, several PCM samples and PCM-cellulose samples were prepared under controlled conditions for laboratory-scale testing. The laboratory tests were performed to determine the phase change properties of PCM-enhanced cellulose insulation both at microscopic and macroscopic levels. This article presents the data and analysis from the exterior test wall and the laboratory-scale test data. PCM behavior is influenced by the weather and interior conditions, PCM phase change temperature and PCM distribution within the wall cavity, among other factors. Under optimal conditions, the field data showed up to 20% reduction in weekly heat transfer through an external wall due to the PCM compared to cellulose-only insulation.

Discussing simply waste water treatment in building green mine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Yousheng

2010-01-01

Analysis simplfy it is important and necessary that uran ore enterprise build the green mine .According to focusing on waste water treatment in building green mine of some uran ore enterprise,analysis the problem in treating mine water, technics waste water, tailings water before remoulding the system of waster water treatment, evaluate the advanced technics, satisfy ability, steady effect, reach the mark of discharge. According to the experimental unit of building the green mine,some uran ore enterprise make the waster water reaching the mark of discharge after remoulding the system of waster water treatment.It provides valuable experienceto uran ore enterprise in building green mine. (authors)

Health Benefits of Green Public Housing: Associations With Asthma Morbidity and Building-Related Symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Colton, Meryl D; Laurent, Jose Guillermo Cedeno; MacNaughton, Piers; Kane, John; Bennett-Fripp, Mae; Spengler, John; Adamkiewicz, Gary

2015-12-01

We examined associations of several health outcomes with green and conventional low-income housing, where the prevalence of morbidities and environmental pollutants is elevated. We used questionnaires and a visual inspection to compare sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms and asthma-related morbidity among residents in multifamily units in Boston, Massachusetts, between March 2012 and May 2013. Follow-up was approximately 1 year later. Adults living in green units reported 1.35 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.66, 2.05) fewer SBS symptoms than those living in conventional (control) homes (P green homes experienced substantially lower risk of asthma symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.12, 1.00), asthma attacks (OR = 0.31; 95% CI = 0.11, 0.88), hospital visits (OR = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.06, 0.88), and asthma-related school absences (OR = 0.21; 95% CI = 0.06, 0.74) than children living in conventional public housing. Participants living in green homes had improved health outcomes, which remained consistent over the study period. Green housing may provide a significant value in resource-poor settings where green construction or renovation could simultaneously reduce harmful indoor exposures, promote resident health, and reduce operational costs.

Kayenta Township Building & Safety Department, Tribal Green Building Code Summit Presentation

Science.gov (United States)

Tribal Green Building Code Summit Presentation by Kayenta Township Building & Safety Department showing how they established the building department, developed a code adoption and enforcement process, and hired staff to carry out the work.

Public Procurement and the Private Supply of Green Buildings

OpenAIRE

Timothy Simcoe; Michael W. Toffel

2012-01-01

We measure the impact of municipal policies requiring governments to construct green buildings on private-sector adoption of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard. Using matching methods, panel data, and instrumental variables, we find that government procurement rules produce spillover effects that stimulate both private-sector adoption of the LEED standard and supplier investments in green building expertise. Our findings suggest tha...

Penilaian Kriteria Green Building Pada Gedung Teknik Sipil ITS

OpenAIRE

Putri, Aristia A; Rohman, M. Arif; Utomo, Christiono

2012-01-01

Green building merupakan suatu konsep bangunan ramah lingkungan yang sudah menjadi perhatian khusus di berbagai negara dan mulai diterapkan di Indonesia. Konsep Green Building merupakan salah satu upaya penghematan energi yang dapat diterapkan pada suatu gedung. Penulisan Tugas Akhir ini dilakukan untuk mengukur rating/sertifikasi sebagai tolak ukur sudah sejauh mana tingkat green building gedung-gedung di ITS, dengan cara melakukan pengukuran langsung, yang dilakukan oleh peneliti berdasark...

A mini review on the integration of resource recovery from wastewater into sustainability of the green building through phycoremediation

Science.gov (United States)

Yulistyorini, Anie

2017-09-01

Green building implementation is an important assessment for sustainable development to establish a good quality of the environment. To develop the future green building implementation, resource recovery from the building wastewater is significantly important to consider as a part of the green building development. Discharge of urban wastewater into water bodies trigger of eutrophication in the water catchment, accordingly need further treatment to recover the nutrient before it is reused or discharged into receiving water bodies. In this regard, integration of microalgae cultivation in closed photobioreactor as building façade is critically important to be considered in the implementation of the green building. Microalgae offer multi-function as bioremediation (phycoremediation) of the wastewater, production of the biofuels, and important algal bio-products. At the same time, algae façade boost the reduction of the operating cost in forms of light, thermal energy and add the benefit into the building for energy reduction and architecture function. It promises an environmental benefit to support green building spirit through nutrient recovery and wastewater reuse for algae cultivation and to enhance the aesthetic of the building façade.

Green buildings: A Mauritian built environment stakeholders ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The literature reviewed and results of a survey among professionals and contractors from the ... green building materials are more durable than traditional materials, resulting in ..... Building-construction methods for residential buildings include.

Green buildings as a part of the infrastructure: Supporter, symbol or stranger

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Ole

2002-01-01

Building green has to balance between fitting into the specific local conditions and being different from them. But being too different leads to conflicts – too much adaptation destroys the greenness of the building. In relation to infrastructure, it is argued that green buildings can have the role...... as supporter, symbol or stranger. Through three case studies of green buildings in Denmark the relation between buildings and infrastructure is explored, and discussed in relation to the future role of green buildings....

Integrating Building Information Modeling and Green Building Certification: The BIM-LEED Application Model Development

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Wei

2010-01-01

Building information modeling (BIM) and green building are currently two major trends in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. This research recognizes the market demand for better solutions to achieve green building certification such as LEED in the United States. It proposes a new strategy based on the integration of BIM…

Peran Green Building dalam Upaya Meningkatkan Kualitas Lingkungan Binaan

OpenAIRE

Baharuddin

2012-01-01

Presentasi ini menjelaskan tentang peran green building dalam meningkatkan kualitas lingkungan. Lebih detail menjelaskan tentang peran green building dalam lima aspek: lokasi dan site, efisiensi air, energi, material, dan kualitas lingkungan dalam ruangan

Efforts of the occupant to change physical quality of residential unit through the change of building material at low cost flats in Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Nurdiani, N.

2018-03-01

Low cost flats in Jakarta – Indonesia is provided by the government for low-income people in urban areas, in line with the program to redevelop or renew slum areas. Low cost flat is built with the minimum standard of building materials. The purpose of this study is to know efforts of the occupants to change of building materials at residential unit of low cost flats. The research was conducted by descriptive method at four of low cost housing in Jakarta: Rusuna Bendungan Hilir 1, Rusuna Tambora IIIA, Rusuna Bidara Cina, and Rusuna Sukapura. The results showed that physical changes which happened in low cost flats are aesthetic (residence paint color change), or improvement of physical quality of residential unit (change of building material), become dominant aspects done by residents in four rusuna.

Effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons

Science.gov (United States)

Baik, Jong-Jin; Kwak, Kyung-Hwan; Park, Seung-Bu; Ryu, Young-Hee

2012-12-01

Building roof greening is a successful strategy for improving urban thermal environment. It is of theoretical interest and practical importance to study the effects of building roof greening on urban air quality in a systematic and quantitative way. In this study, we examine the effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that includes the thermodynamic energy equation and the transport equation of passive, non-reactive pollutants. For simplicity, building roof greening is represented by specified cooling. Results for a simple building configuration with a street canyon aspect ratio of one show that the cool air produced due to building roof greening flows into the street canyon, giving rise to strengthened street canyon flow. The strengthened street canyon flow enhances pollutant dispersion near the road, which decreases pollutant concentration there. Thus, building roof greening improves air quality near the road. The degree of air quality improvement near the road increases as the cooling intensity increases. In the middle region of the street canyon, the air quality can worsen when the cooling intensity is not too strong. Results for a real urban morphology also show that building roof greening improves air quality near roads. The degree of air quality improvement near roads due to building roof greening depends on the ambient wind direction. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for constructing green roofs for the purpose of improving air quality near roads or at a pedestrian level as well as urban thermal environment. Further studies using a CFD model coupled with a photochemistry model and a surface energy balance model are required to evaluate the effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons in a more realistic framework.

Review of the Application of Green Building and Energy Saving Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Zhineng

2017-12-01

The use of energy-saving technologies in green buildings should run through the entire process of building design, construction and use, enabling green energy-saving technologies to maximize their effectiveness in construction. Realize the sustainable development of green building, reduce energy consumption, reduce people’s interference with the natural environment, suitable for people living in “green” building.

Occupant comfort and health in green and conventional university buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedge, A; Miller, L; Dorsey, J A

2014-01-01

Green building standards are significantly impacting modern construction practices. The resulting structures are more energy efficient, but their impact on occupant health has not been widely studied. To investigate a range of indoor environment and ergonomic issues in green buildings. Retrospective post-occupancy evaluation survey of 319 occupants in two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings and one conventional building on a Canadian University campus. Results show that working in the LEED buildings was a generally positive experience for their health, performance, and satisfaction. However, the LEED buildings did not always receive the highest ratings for environmental conditions or for health and productivity. Respondents indicated a range of concerns with thermal conditions, office lighting, noise and their overall workstation designs and these were not always better in the green buildings. These results highlight the need for better integration of ergonomic design into green buildings and into the LEED rating system, and these implications are discussed.

Comparative Policy Study for Green Buildings in U.S. and China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khanna, Nina; Romankiewicz, John; Feng, Wei; Zhou, Nan; Ye, Qing

2014-04-01

Prominent barriers facing the U.S. green building industry include the fact that government bodies that supervise health, fire safety, land, and other public operations are slow to revise codes to accommodate green building (regulatory barrier). In China, the lack of a green building professional accreditation process similar to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) AP process limits the green building workforce capacity development (informational barrier). The main policies highlighted in this report to tackle these barriers are 1) comprehensive codes and labeling plan (informational, institutional), 2) government-led targets and demonstrations (risk), 3) education and awareness programs (informational), 4) fiscal policy that supports green building investment (financial), and 5) integrated design promotion (institutional, financial).

Environmental and Energy Aspects of Construction Industry and Green Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Kauskale, L.; Geipele, I.; Zeltins, N.; Lecis, I.

2017-04-01

Green building is an important component of sustainable real estate market development, and one of the reasons is that the construction industry consumes a high amount of resources. Energy consumption of construction industry results in greenhouse gas emissions, so green buildings, energy systems, building technologies and other aspects play an important role in sustainable development of real estate market, construction and environmental development. The aim of the research is to analyse environmental aspects of sustainable real estate market development, focusing on importance of green buildings at the industry level and related energy aspects. Literature review, historical, statistical data analysis and logical access methods have been used in the research. The conducted research resulted in high environmental rationale and importance of environment-friendly buildings, and there are many green building benefits during the building life cycle. Future research direction is environmental information process and its models.

Carbon Emission Reduction with Capital Constraint under Greening Financing and Cost Sharing Contract.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Juanjuan; Zhao, Yuhui; Xia, Liangjie

2018-04-13

Motivated by the industrial practices, this work explores the carbon emission reductions for the manufacturer, while taking into account the capital constraint and the cap-and-trade regulation. To alleviate the capital constraint, two contracts are analyzed: greening financing and cost sharing. We use the Stackelberg game to model four cases as follows: (1) in Case A1, the manufacturer has no greening financing and no cost sharing; (2) in Case A2, the manufacturer has greening financing, but no cost sharing; (3) in Case B1, the manufacturer has no greening financing but has cost sharing; and, (4) in Case B2, the manufacturer has greening financing and cost sharing. Then, using the backward induction method, we derive and compare the equilibrium decisions and profits of the participants in the four cases. We find that the interest rate of green finance does not always negatively affect the carbon emission reduction of the manufacturer. Meanwhile, the cost sharing from the retailer does not always positively affect the carbon emission reduction of the manufacturer. When the cost sharing is low, both of the participants' profits in Case B1 (under no greening finance) are not less than that in Case B2 (under greening finance). When the cost sharing is high, both of the participants' profits in Case B1 (under no greening finance) are less than that in Case B2 (under greening finance).

Carbon Emission Reduction with Capital Constraint under Greening Financing and Cost Sharing Contract

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Juanjuan; Zhao, Yuhui; Xia, Liangjie

2018-01-01

Motivated by the industrial practices, this work explores the carbon emission reductions for the manufacturer, while taking into account the capital constraint and the cap-and-trade regulation. To alleviate the capital constraint, two contracts are analyzed: greening financing and cost sharing. We use the Stackelberg game to model four cases as follows: (1) in Case A1, the manufacturer has no greening financing and no cost sharing; (2) in Case A2, the manufacturer has greening financing, but no cost sharing; (3) in Case B1, the manufacturer has no greening financing but has cost sharing; and, (4) in Case B2, the manufacturer has greening financing and cost sharing. Then, using the backward induction method, we derive and compare the equilibrium decisions and profits of the participants in the four cases. We find that the interest rate of green finance does not always negatively affect the carbon emission reduction of the manufacturer. Meanwhile, the cost sharing from the retailer does not always positively affect the carbon emission reduction of the manufacturer. When the cost sharing is low, both of the participants’ profits in Case B1 (under no greening finance) are not less than that in Case B2 (under greening finance). When the cost sharing is high, both of the participants’ profits in Case B1 (under no greening finance) are less than that in Case B2 (under greening finance). PMID:29652859

Green Buildings in Use: Post Occupancy Evaluations

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Chris

2007-01-01

This article briefly describes users' experiences of two "green" education buildings. It goes on to conclude that stakeholders' negotiation of building performance is necessary to minimise environmental impact, just as it is necessary to achieve other aspects of building performance.

Research on green building design based on ecological concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Ping Qing

2016-01-01

Full Text Available At present, the protection of the ecological environment and the promotion of green building has been recognized and widely promoted.With the rapid development of the construction industry, Architecture design will inevitably require the resentation of its unique form and charm to reflect the ecological concept and ecological culture, because of the unique nature of the art and the particularity of the environment. To establish the ecological concept of green building design and vigorously develop the green green building has a complementary role to alleviate the pressure on resources,and to speed up the eco city planning design, and to realize the sustainable development of the city, and to protect the urban ecological environmental.

EVALUATION OF LOW-COST TERRESTRIAL PHOTOGRAMMETRY FOR 3D RECONSTRUCTION OF COMPLEX BUILDINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Altman

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Terrestrial photogrammetry is an accessible method of 3D digital modelling, and can be done with low-cost consumer grade equipment. Globally there are many undocumented buildings, particularly in the developing world, that could benefit from 3D modelling for documentation, redesign or restoration. Areas with buildings at risk of destruction by natural disaster or war could especially benefit. This study considers a range of variables that affect the quality of photogrammetric results. Different point clouds of the same building are produced with different variables, and they are systematically tested to see how the output was affected. This is done by geometrically comparing them to a laser scanned point cloud of the same building. It finally considers how best results can be achieved for different applications, how to mitigate negative effects, and the limits of this technique.

IMPLEMENTATION OF GREEN BUILDING INCENTIVES FOR CONSTRUCTION KEY PLAYERS IN MALAYSIA

OpenAIRE

SITI ZUBAIDAH HASHIM; INTAN BAYANI ZAKARIA; NADIRA AHZAHAR; MOHD FADZIL YASIN; ABDUL HAKIM AZIZ

2016-01-01

A Green Building Index (GBI) is a pioneer in a building grading system to promote sustainability and increase awareness upon environmental issue in Malaysia. The GBI was first established by Malaysia Architect Association (PAM) and Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM) in February 2009. As a green building contribution on sustainable development and energy efficiency, government has introduced incentives to parties who involve in obtaining Green Building Index Certificate to inc...

Building Envelope Thermal Performance Assessment Using Visual Programming and BIM, based on ETTV requirement of Green Mark and GreenRE

OpenAIRE

Taki Eddine Seghier; Lim Yaik Wah; Mohd Hamdan Ahmad; Williams Opeyemi Samuel

2017-01-01

Accomplishment of green building design requirements and the achievement of the targeted credit points under a specific green rating system are known to be a task that is very challenging. Building Information Modeling (BIM) design process and tools have already made considerable advancements in green building design and performance analysis. However, Green building design process is still lack of tools and workflows that can provide real-time feedback of building sustainability and rating du...

Green Construction in Building Renovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ksit Barbara

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Modern materials and construction solutions draw more and more attention to ecology and building certification. Among the criteria appearing in revitalization, an important element is bringing plants back into heavily urbanized areas. In its natural form, this is not possible to carry out everywhere, often requiring large amounts of space. Nowadays, however, there are a number of green roofs and green wall systems, allowing “greener” construction without making significant changes in the urban environment.

Dynamic integration of residential building design and green energies : the Bireth approach : building integrated renewable energy total harvest approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheung, K.P. [Hong Kong Univ., Hong Kong (China). Dept. of Architecture; Luk, C.L.P. [Chu Hai College of Higher Education, Hong Kong (China). Dept. of Architecture; Wong, S.T. [Hong Kong Univ., Hong Kong (China). Div. of Arts and Humanities, SPACE; Chung, S.L.; Fung, K.S.; Leung, M.F. [Hong Kong Inst. of Vocational Education, Hong Kong (China)

2006-07-01

Renewable energy sources that are commonly used in buildings include solar energy, wind energy and rainwater collection. High quality environmentally responsive residential buildings are designed to provide good insulation in winter and solar shading in summer. However, this study demonstrated that the green energy design in residential buildings is not usually well integrated. For example, windows with clear double or triple glazed glass, allow good penetration of sunlight during the day in winter, but are not further dynamically insulated for when the sun goes down to avoid heat loss from the building. Additionally, good solar static shading devices often block much needed daylight on cloudy winter days. These examples emphasize the lack of an integrated approach to gain the best advantage of green energies and to minimize energy costs in residential buildings. This study addressed issues facing the integrated approach with particular reference to the design of a small residential building in rural Beijing. The design included a new approach for interpreting a traditional Beijing court yard house in the modern Beijing rural context, while integrating multi-responding innovative green energy applications derived from first principles. This paper also presented a proposal for a village house in Hong Kong to harvest as much renewable energies as possible, primarily wind energy and solar energy, that come into contact with the building. The purpose was to work towards a renewable energy approach for buildings, namely the Bireth approach, which will benefit practically all houses by making them zero energy houses. The paper described the feasibility of integrating renewable energies in buildings to fulfill performance requirements such improving ventilation, providing warm interiors, drying clothes, or storing solar and wind energies into power batteries. The challenges facing the development of a proposed micro solar hot air turbine were also presented. 15 refs., 6

Analysis on the restriction factors of the green building scale promotion based on DEMATEL

Science.gov (United States)

Wenxia, Hong; Zhenyao, Jiang; Zhao, Yang

2017-03-01

In order to promote the large-scale development of the green building in our country, DEMATEL method was used to classify influence factors of green building development into three parts, including green building market, green technology and macro economy. Through the DEMATEL model, the interaction mechanism of each part was analyzed. The mutual influence degree of each barrier factor that affects the green building promotion was quantitatively analysed and key factors for the development of green building in China were also finally determined. In addition, some implementation strategies of promoting green building scale development in our country were put forward. This research will show important reference value and practical value for making policies of the green building promotion.

Contribution Index Based on Green Building Certification Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuting Sun

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Green Building Certification Systems (GBCS are carried out in many countries due to the rising awareness of the importance of sustainability in the building industry. The intention should have motivated participants to construct and operate buildings sustainably, however, there is not yet a method developed to investigate the motivation of the participants. Based on the GBCS, this paper proposes the contribution index as a standard global method to analyze the performance of participants in the green building industry. Three contribution indices, namely Frequency Contribution Index (FCI, Intensity Contribution Index (ICI and Comprehensive Contribution Index (CCI that concern each different category of participant, have been formulated. Three further analyses based on the index were undertaken to investigate some features of the industry. A case study of Singapore was conducted to show how the contribution index could be used to extract industry patterns and trends and assess the participants’ performance in the green building industry. Interviews with experts provide some suggested applications and support for the findings.

Analysis of intelligent green building policy and developing status in Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuo, Chung-Feng Jeffrey; Lin, Chieh-Hung; Hsu, Ming-Wen

2016-01-01

In 2010, Taiwan launched a program dubbed “four emerging intellectual industries” that lists intelligent green buildings. The aim of promoting of intelligent green building is to stimulate the architecture technology industry. This has been combined with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the concept of green building to provide a safe and healthy living environment. While doing this it will also aim to reduce carbon emissions and save energy. This study investigates intelligent green building policies and the promotion of progress in Taiwan. It probes into cases from 1988 to 2014. Key success factors are derived from analyzing and summarizing intelligent green building experiences in Taiwan. This is done through Secondary Data Analyses by: 1. Establishing clear norms and standards for intelligent green building design and improvement; 2. First carrying out policies in public sector, in order to provide field trial and safeguarded market opportunities for industries; 3. Implementing rating-based assessments, in order to raise the quality of design; 4. Mandatory or incentive policies are introduced, depending on local specialties and conditions; 5. Respectively planning incentives for relevant interested parties in industrial chain; 6. Strengthening marketing efforts and proactively promoting policies. - Highlights: •Aggregate and analyze the results of Intelligent Green Building policy in Taiwan. •Chi-square Test of Independence is used for inspecting successful factors. •Organize experiences and propose recommended feasible scheme for future.

Towards The Adaptation of Green Building Material Systems to the Egyptian Environment

OpenAIRE

Sherif Mohamed Sabry Elattar; Eman Badawy Ahmed

2014-01-01

This research briefly reviews the definition and the principles of green architecture, making a comparison between the global green building rating systems in respect to materials only. These systems are the [1, 2]Green Pyramid, BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environment Assessment Method), [3] LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and the [4] Green Star in the form of Credits %, importance and its Requirements.The research Aims to evaluate the green building material ...

Green Growth and Low Carbon Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Müller, Anders Riel; Tonami, Aki

This paper ask the question of what makes Low Carbon and Green Growth and Low Carbon Society policy concepts that have not only gained foothold in their countries of origin, but also globally. Autobiography analysis is employed to discover the stories that these concepts tell about developmental...... challenges in East Asia and beyond. By building on narratives of national progress, overcoming of adversity, and societal harmony, the concepts seek to bypass the gridlock between economic growth and planetary degradation by developing new metanarratives. The paper also analyze on the fact...... that the international coalitions build around the concepts differ significantly, which we argue can be explained, in part, by their differing metanarratives. We argue that, this autobiographical and narrative approach contributes to our understanding of why these concepts have managed to spread internationally....

DOE's Public Database for Green Building Case Studies: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Torcellini, P. A.; Crawley, D. B.

2003-11-01

To help capture valuable information on''green building'' case studies, the U.S. Department of Energy has created an online database for collecting, standardizing, and disseminating information about high-performance, green projects. Type of information collected includes green features, design processes, energy performance, and comparison to other high-performance, green buildings.

The Impact of Working in a Green Certified Building on Cognitive Function and Health.

Science.gov (United States)

MacNaughton, Piers; Satish, Usha; Laurent, Jose Guillermo Cedeno; Flanigan, Skye; Vallarino, Jose; Coull, Brent; Spengler, John D; Allen, Joseph G

2017-03-01

Thirty years of public health research have demonstrated that improved indoor environmental quality is associated with better health outcomes. Recent research has demonstrated an impact of the indoor environment on cognitive function. We recruited 109 participants from 10 high-performing buildings (i.e. buildings surpassing the ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010 ventilation requirement and with low total volatile organic compound concentrations) in five U.S. cities. In each city, buildings were matched by week of assessment, tenant, type of worker and work functions. A key distinction between the matched buildings was whether they had achieved green certification. Workers were administered a cognitive function test of higher order decision-making performance twice during the same week while indoor environmental quality parameters were monitored. Workers in green certified buildings scored 26.4% (95% CI: [12.8%, 39.7%]) higher on cognitive function tests, controlling for annual earnings, job category and level of schooling, and had 30% fewer sick building symptoms than those in non-certified buildings. These outcomes may be partially explained by IEQ factors, including thermal conditions and lighting, but the findings suggest that the benefits of green certification standards go beyond measureable IEQ factors. We describe a holistic "buildingomics" approach for examining the complexity of factors in a building that influence human health.

Minimizing Climate Change Impacts through the Application of Green Building Principles

OpenAIRE

Baharuddin

2014-01-01

The presentation explains the climate change and the role of green building in minimising the impact of climate change. The presentation covers the emerging issues, sustainable building, green building certification which covers: sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and

Strategic Behavior in Certifying Green Buildings: An Inquiry of the Non-building Performance Value.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang Hsieh, Lin-Han; Noonan, Douglas

2017-08-01

This study determines the magnitude of the market signaling effect arising from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for green buildings and explores the mechanisms behind the signaling effect. Previous studies have shown that signaling or marketability plays an important role in the pursuit for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and equivalent green-building certification. By analyzing all new construction projects receiving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from 2000 to 2012 in the US, this study estimates the relative importance of 'green' signaling. This broad perspective using project-level data enables an analysis of some drivers of signaling and the pursuit of marketing benefits. The roles of local competition and market conditions, as well as municipal regulations are examined, especially as they differ between types of building owners (e.g., for-profit firms, governments, nonprofits). The results indicate that the non-building performance value-value captured by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design signals above and beyond the specific building attributes that Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certifies-dominates the attainment of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design scores around certification tier thresholds. Further, strong evidence of spatial clustering of this non-building performance value for some owner types indicates that for-profit owners may be more responsive to local competition than non-profit owners. Local legislative mandates predict greater signaling intensity by government-owned buildings, as expected, but for-profit-owned projects tend to signal less, even after controls for local conditions. The results highlight the importance of local conditions, including peer effects and regulations, in driving non-building performance values across a wide range of green buildings.

Green building challenge 2002 in Canada : an overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-02-01

The Green Building Challenge (GBC) in Canada was launched to help the building community meet environmental challenges and improve the environmental performance of buildings. Tools have been made available to the building industry to make informed environmental choices during the conception design stage of a project. The tools help architects, researchers and policy analysts in choosing material mixes and other design options that will minimize a building's potential life cycle environmental impacts and promote sustainable development. Green buildings involve the complete structure and envelope, including cladding, insulation, gypsum wall board, roofing and windows. The type of building and its location is also considered. Long term sustainability also considers energy use and emissions related to a building's energy system. This presentation described the following 3 projects which were selected for assessment in the GBC-2002: (1) the Mayo School in Mayo, Yukon Territory, (2) the Jackson-Triggs Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and (3) the Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The GBC-2002 Canadian Team nominated them as the best buildings being designed in Canada.10 figs.

Engineering IT-enabled sustainable electricity services the tale of two low-cost green Azores Islands

CERN Document Server

Xie, Le; Liu, Qixing

2013-01-01

Engineering IT-Enabled Electricity Services: The Tale of Two Low-Cost Green Azores Islands covers sustainable energy services to customers - a balanced choice and coordination of energy generated by traditional and alternative sources. The “Green Islands” project represents a decade of work by over a dozen researchers who have developed a model designed to utilize the potential of distributed clean resources. The key is the proper use of Information Technology (IT).  Sited on two islands in the Azores, the project developed the model of careful forecasting of demand and supply, down to the minute, coordinating the output of conventional power plants, wind energy, fly wheels, hydroelectricity, demand reduction, and even plug-in electric vehicles to take full advantage of the clean resources available. This contributed volume presents methods for predicting variable resources, such as wind power generation, and analyzes the achievable accuracy of these predictions. Throughout this book, contributors sho...

Green Construction in Building Renovation

Science.gov (United States)

Ksit, Barbara; Majcherek, Michał

2016-06-01

Modern materials and construction solutions draw more and more attention to ecology and building certification. Among the criteria appearing in revitalization, an important element is bringing plants back into heavily urbanized areas. In its natural form, this is not possible to carry out everywhere, often requiring large amounts of space. Nowadays, however, there are a number of green roofs and green wall systems, allowing "greener" construction without making significant changes in the urban environment. The article includes a presentation and analysis of selected solutions of biological surfaces known as green roofs and green walls, specifying various solutions and their most important features. The case study focuses primarily on material and design solutions, as well as the potential benefits, risks and limitations in their use. Plants structures on the surfaces of vertical and horizontal partitions continue to be a very interesting alternative to take into account when applying for grants, such as LEED or BREEAM certificates.

Building green covering for a sustainable use of energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C.A. Campiotti

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Nowadays the growth of the cities increased built and paved areas, energy use and heat generation. The phenomenon of urban warming, called urban heat island, influences negatively outdoor comfort conditions, pollutants concentration, energy demand for air conditioning, as well as increases environmental impact due to the demand of energy generation. A sustainable technology for improving the energy efficiency of buildings is the use of green roofs and walls in order to reduce the energy consumption for conditioning in summer and improve the thermal insulation in winter. The use of green roofs and walls can contribute to mitigate the phenomenon of heat island, the emissions of greenhouse gases, and the storm water runoff affecting human thermal comfort, air quality and energy use of the buildings. Recently, a number of municipalities started to adopt regulations and constructive benefits for renovated and new buildings which incorporate green roofs and walls. The aim of this paper is to describe the green roofs and walls plant technology.

Building Envelope Thermal Performance Assessment Using Visual Programming and BIM, based on ETTV requirement of Green Mark and GreenRE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taki Eddine Seghier

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Accomplishment of green building design requirements and the achievement of the targeted credit points under a specific green rating system are known to be a task that is very challenging. Building Information Modeling (BIM design process and tools have already made considerable advancements in green building design and performance analysis. However, Green building design process is still lack of tools and workflows that can provide real-time feedback of building sustainability and rating during the design stage. In this paper, a new workflow of green building design assessment and rating is proposed based on the integration of Visual Programing Language (VPL and BIM. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop a BIM-VPL based tool for building envelope design and assessment support. The focus performance metric in this research is building Envelope Thermal Transfer Value (ETTV which is an Energy Efficiency (EE prerequisite requirement (up to 15 credits in both Green Mark and GreenRE rating systems. The development of the tool begins first by creating a generic integration framework between BIM-VPL functionalities and ETTV requirements. Then, data is extracted from the BIM 3D model and managed using Revit, Excel and Dynamo for visual scripting. A sample project consisting of a hypothetical residential building is run and its envelope ETTV performance and rating score are obtained for the validation of the tool. This tool will support project team in building envelope design and assessment by allowing them to select the most appropriate façade configuration according to its performance efficiency and the green rating. Furthermore, this tool serves as proof of concept that building sustainability rating and compliance checking can be automatically processed through customized workflows developed based on BIM and VPL technologies.

Identifying critical success factors (CSFs) of Facilities Management (FM) in non-low cost high-rise residential buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlan, F. M.; Zainuddin, A.

2018-02-01

Critical success factors (CSFs) are important key areas of activity that must be performed well in any Facilities Management (FM) organisation to achieve its missions, objectives or goals. Before implementing CSFs, an FM organisation must identify the key areas where things must be done properly to enable the business to flourish. Although many performance measurements in FM organisation have been discussed in previous research, not much research has been done on CSFs from the perspective of FM business in non-low cost high-rise residential buildings. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology in developing the CSFs group and CSFs for FM organisation in non-low cost residential buildings. This research will involve three (3) phases of research strategy to achieve the objective of this research.

Accuracy Assessment of a Complex Building 3d Model Reconstructed from Images Acquired with a Low-Cost Uas

Science.gov (United States)

Oniga, E.; Chirilă, C.; Stătescu, F.

2017-02-01

Nowadays, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) are a wide used technique for acquisition in order to create buildings 3D models, providing the acquisition of a high number of images at very high resolution or video sequences, in a very short time. Since low-cost UASs are preferred, the accuracy of a building 3D model created using this platforms must be evaluated. To achieve results, the dean's office building from the Faculty of "Hydrotechnical Engineering, Geodesy and Environmental Engineering" of Iasi, Romania, has been chosen, which is a complex shape building with the roof formed of two hyperbolic paraboloids. Seven points were placed on the ground around the building, three of them being used as GCPs, while the remaining four as Check points (CPs) for accuracy assessment. Additionally, the coordinates of 10 natural CPs representing the building characteristic points were measured with a Leica TCR 405 total station. The building 3D model was created as a point cloud which was automatically generated based on digital images acquired with the low-cost UASs, using the image matching algorithm and different software like 3DF Zephyr, Visual SfM, PhotoModeler Scanner and Drone2Map for ArcGIS. Except for the PhotoModeler Scanner software, the interior and exterior orientation parameters were determined simultaneously by solving a self-calibrating bundle adjustment. Based on the UAS point clouds, automatically generated by using the above mentioned software and GNSS data respectively, the parameters of the east side hyperbolic paraboloid were calculated using the least squares method and a statistical blunder detection. Then, in order to assess the accuracy of the building 3D model, several comparisons were made for the facades and the roof with reference data, considered with minimum errors: TLS mesh for the facades and GNSS mesh for the roof. Finally, the front facade of the building was created in 3D based on its characteristic points using the PhotoModeler Scanner

Successful Strategies for Planning a Green Building.

Science.gov (United States)

Browning, William D.

2003-01-01

Presents several strategies for successful green building on campus: develop a set of clear environmental performance goals (buildings as pedagogical tools, climate-neutral operations, maximized human performance), use Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) as a gauge of performance, and use the project to reform the campus building…

Exploration and Practice of Green Building Management in Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Sun; Xiaofeng; Song; Kun; Liu; Jinxin

2016-01-01

This paper summarizes the current development status of green building management in China, and analyzes the problems existing in its present management pattern. It fi rstly introduces the background, procedures and achievements gained during the green building practice in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, expounds the principles and methods of the establishment of the green building management system in this Tianjin Eco-City, and then focuses on practical experience and specifi c measures in separate parts of green building management system in the Tianjin EcoCity, which is constituted by laws, regulations and policies, technical standards, management process, product access, etc. Through exploration and practice, it took 8 years for the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City to preliminarily establish a set of management systems which were suited to its own characteristics. By introduction of the management system, this paper aims to provide reference for other cities to carry out green building practice and improve the quality of green buildings in China.

Efficacy of integrated green design strategies in meeting green building criteria: A South Africa Study

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

2010-05-01

Full Text Available to the use of more efficient sanitary fittings and not using potable water for irrigation purposes; and an enhanced post-construction ecological value for the site. Green building is a recent development in South Africa: a green building council... of the building are 330 millimetres wide consisting of two clay masonry skins and an internal cavity: this has been done to allow the outer skin to go past the face of the 230 millimetre reinforced concrete columns. The roof comprises of an insulated light roof...

Overcoming barriers to high performance seismic design using lessons learned from the green building industry

Science.gov (United States)

Glezil, Dorothy

NEHRP's Provisions today currently governing conventional seismic resistant design. These provisions, though they ensure the life-safety of building occupants, extensive damage and economic losses may still occur in the structures. This minimum performance can be enhanced using the Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering methodology and passive control systems like base isolation and energy dissipation systems. Even though these technologies and the PBEE methodology are effective reducing economic losses and fatalities during earthquakes, getting them implemented into seismic resistant design has been challenging. One of the many barriers to their implementation has been their upfront costs. The green building community has faced some of the same challenges that the high performance seismic design community currently faces. The goal of this thesis is to draw on the success of the green building industry to provide recommendations that may be used overcome the barriers that high performance seismic design (HPSD) is currently facing.

A Review of Green Building Development in China from the Perspective of Energy Saving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying Zhang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the history of green building development and assessment standards in China, particularly from the perspective of energy saving. It is divided into four parts: (1 the development of policies of green building in China that have been proposed for meeting energy-conservation and emission-reduction targets; (2 the scientific research on green building by the Chinese government, including the promotion of maximum resource sustainability, environmental protection, and the reduction of pollution; (3 the development of assessment standards for green building in China; and (4 the development of green building technologies in China.

Do green building assessment criteria meet sustainability imperatives: a critical analysis

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

2008-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to determine whether green building assessment criteria meet the imperatives of sustainable development. The paper finds that green building assessment criteria fail to meet the sustainable development imperatives...

Efficient Solutions and Cost-Optimal Analysis for Existing School Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paolo Maria Congedo

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The recast of the energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD describes a comparative methodological framework to promote energy efficiency and establish minimum energy performance requirements in buildings at the lowest costs. The aim of the cost-optimal methodology is to foster the achievement of nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs, the new target for all new buildings by 2020, characterized by a high performance with a low energy requirement almost covered by renewable sources. The paper presents the results of the application of the cost-optimal methodology in two existing buildings located in the Mediterranean area. These buildings are a kindergarten and a nursery school that differ in construction period, materials and systems. Several combinations of measures have been applied to derive cost-effective efficient solutions for retrofitting. The cost-optimal level has been identified for each building and the best performing solutions have been selected considering both a financial and a macroeconomic analysis. The results illustrate the suitability of the methodology to assess cost-optimality and energy efficiency in school building refurbishment. The research shows the variants providing the most cost-effective balance between costs and energy saving. The cost-optimal solution reduces primary energy consumption by 85% and gas emissions by 82%–83% in each reference building.

ATRF Earns Three Green Globes, Exceeds NIH Building Standards | Poster

Science.gov (United States)

By Ashley DeVine, Staff Writer From project management and energy and water efficiency to emissions and the indoor environment, the Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF) was built with sustainability in mind, exceeding the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) building standards and earning three Green Globes from the Green Building Initiative (GBI).

ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS: AN APPLICATION IN GREEN BUILDING MARKET RESEARCH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharmin Attaran

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainability has become a necessity in the building industry. In recent years, as the general public is more informed and aware of sustainability related issues, they are becoming major players in the decision making process regarding their built environment. However, there are still challenges with how sustainability is communicated to occupants and owners of buildings. As the global economic crisis is continuing, the marketing of green buildings needs to be refined to communicate the lifetime benefits of sustainability. One of the ways to develop effective marketing strategies, is to understand what the occupants value the most among many aspects of green buildings thus develop focused marketing solutions. Authors present a conceptual methodology using Analytic Hierarchy Process toward identifying consumer ranking and weights of a major green building rating system’s categories. Authors use sample non-representative data to illustrate the proposed methodology, while sharing preliminary qualitative data from the research in progress.

Study on the factors that influence the intention of college students to participate in the green building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hung ChienJen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of green building has been extended for a period of time on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. However, there still is curiosity and skepticism in Fujian on green building. While in Taiwan, villages are filled with green-evolved houses and modern environmental farmhouses. With Theory of Planned Behavior as the framework, this study investigates influences of college students’ attitude toward green building, subjective norms of green building and perceived behavioral control of green building on the intention to participate in the green building. Findings show that college students’ attitude toward green building and the perceived behavioral control of green building significantly influence the intention to participate in the green building, but “subjective norms of green building” doesn’t have significant influence. The reason is probably that college students are at the rebellious stage and have high self consciousness and independent viewpoints.

Susceptibility of green and conventional building materials to microbial growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Mensah-Attipoe, J; Reponen, T; Salmela, A; Veijalainen, A-M; Pasanen, P

2015-06-01

Green building materials are becoming more popular. However, little is known about their ability to support or limit microbial growth. The growth of fungi was evaluated on five building materials. Two green, two conventional building materials and wood as a positive control were selected. The materials were inoculated with Aspergillus versicolor, Cladosporium cladosporioides and Penicillium brevicompactum, in the absence and presence of house dust. Microbial growth was assessed at four different time points by cultivation and determining fungal biomass using the N-acetylhexosaminidase (NAHA) enzyme assay. No clear differences were seen between green and conventional building materials in their susceptibility to support microbial growth. The presence of dust, an external source of nutrients, promoted growth of all the fungal species similarly on green and conventional materials. The results also showed a correlation coefficient ranging from 0.81 to 0.88 between NAHA activity and culturable counts. The results suggest that the growth of microbes on a material surface depends on the availability of organic matter rather than the classification of the material as green or conventional. NAHA activity and culturability correlated well indicating that the two methods used in the experiments gave similar trends for the growth of fungi on material surfaces. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Build green and conventional materials off-gassing tests: A final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piersol, P.

1995-12-31

Build Green is a certification program that will identify and label building products with a known recycled content. The introduction of these recycled materials has raised the concern that they may emit more indoor pollutants than conventional materials. This study addresses that concern by analyzing Build Green and conventional materials to assess their potential for off-gassing. The study involved emission tests of 37 materials including carpets, carpet undercushions, structural lumber, foundation material, insulation, drywall, fiberboard, counter tops, and cabinetry. The results presented in this report include comparisons of Build Green and conventional materials in terms of emissions of volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde, the material loading ratio, and discussion of the specific sources of the emissions.

Green Buildings in Singapore; Analyzing a Frontrunner’s Sectoral Innovation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vidushini Siva

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The building sector in Singapore consumes up to half of the nation’s total energy. The government has therefore been urging the transformation of the industry by targeting 80% of all buildings to be green-certified by 2030. Thus far, Singapore has done relatively well, and is widely viewed as frontrunner in this respect. This paper addresses the question: what are the benefits and limitations of Singapore’s sectoral innovation system in spurring an energy transition in the building sector, in particular by up-scaling the use of green building technology? The Sectoral Innovation Systems (SIS theoretical framework was used to analyze the Singapore case. Four SIS components were assessed: technological regime, market demand, actor interactions and networks, and institutional framework. The benefits of Singapore’s sectoral innovation system identified in the analysis basically concern aspects of all of the four elements of SIS. Particular success factors concerned the launching of an integrated strategy to support green building innovations (i.e., the Green Mark policy scheme, implementing support policies, and setting up test beds. Furthermore, a masterplan to engage and educate end-users was implemented, knowledge exchange platforms were set up, regulations on the use of efficient equipment in buildings were issued, and standards and a certification system were adopted. The results also shed light on key barriers, namely, the reluctance of building users to change their habits, ineffective stakeholder collaboration, and green buildings innovation support coming from the government only. Measures in place have been moderately effective.

The impact of a 'green' building on employees' physical and psychological wellbeing.

Science.gov (United States)

Thatcher, Andrew; Milner, Karen

2012-01-01

Multiple claims and some empirical findings suggest that 'green' buildings should be healthier (psychologically and physically) and promote greater productivity than conventional buildings. The empirical evidence in this regard over the last decade or so has been inconclusive suggesting either that the studies are flawed or that there are specific aspects of green buildings that promote wellbeing and productivity and others that do not. This study looks at a longitudinal comparison of two groups; a group that moved into South Africa's first GreenStar-accredited building and a group that did not. Measures were taken before the move and six months later. Results demonstrated that the 'green' building did not produce significantly better physical or psychological wellbeing, or higher perceived productivity. These results are discussed in relation to suggestions for what design features to focus on that may produce significant results.

Improving the Green Building Evaluation System in China Based on the DANP Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi-Gan Shao

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Against the background of sustainable development, green building practices could be part of the strategy for solving environmental and energy problems in developing countries. The aim of this paper is to explore a system for the assessment of green buildings in China that provides the government and stakeholders with ways to improve their strategies for green building development. We apply a hybrid model, developed by integrating the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory and Analytical Network Process (called DANP method, to build an influential network relationship map (INRM between assessment systems and to derive the criterion weights. The INRM and derived weights can help us to understand this complex assessment system and to set improvement priorities for green building development. The results demonstrate that indoor environment, materials, and smart facilities are the top three critical factors for green building evaluation. Finally, we discuss some management implications based on an actual case study with solutions provided using this model.

Study on the Application Mode and Legal Protection of Green Materials in Medical-Nursing Combined Building

Science.gov (United States)

Zhiyong, Xian

2017-09-01

In the context of green development, green materials are the future trend of Medical-Nursing Combined building. This paper summarizes the concept and types of green building materials. Then, on the basis of existing research, it constructs the green material system framework of Medical-Nursing Combined building, puts forward the application mode of green building materials, and studies the policy and legal protection of green material application.

Indoor air quality in green-renovated vs. non-green low-income homes of children living in a temperate region of US (Ohio)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coombs, Kanistha C. [University of Cincinnati, Department of Environmental Health, P.O. Box 670056, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Chew, Ginger L. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Environmental Health, Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch, 4770 Buford Hwy., N.E., MS-F60, Atlanta, GA (United States); Schaffer, Christopher [University of Cincinnati, Department of Environmental Health, P.O. Box 670056, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Ryan, Patrick H. [University of Cincinnati, Department of Environmental Health, P.O. Box 670056, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Brokamp, Cole; Grinshpun, Sergey A. [University of Cincinnati, Department of Environmental Health, P.O. Box 670056, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Adamkiewicz, Gary [Harvard University, T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, 401 Park Drive, Boston, MA (United States); Chillrud, Steve [Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Geochemistry Division, P.O. Box 8000, Palisades, New York (United States); Hedman, Curtis [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, 465 Henry Mall, Madison, WI (United States); Colton, Meryl [Harvard University, T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, 401 Park Drive, Boston, MA (United States); Ross, Jamie [Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Geochemistry Division, P.O. Box 8000, Palisades, New York (United States); Reponen, Tiina [University of Cincinnati, Department of Environmental Health, P.O. Box 670056, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

2016-06-01

Green eco-friendly housing includes approaches to reduce indoor air pollutant sources and to increase energy efficiency. Although sealing/tightening buildings can save energy and reduce the penetration of outdoor pollutants, an adverse outcome can be increased buildup of pollutants with indoor sources. The objective of this study was to determine the differences in the indoor air quality (IAQ) between green and non-green homes in low-income housing complexes. In one housing complex, apartments were renovated using green principles (n = 28). Home visits were conducted immediately after the renovation, and subsequently at 6 months and at 12 months following the renovation. Of these homes, eight homes had pre-renovation home visits; this allowed pre- and post-renovation comparisons within the same homes. Parallel visits were conducted in non-green (control) apartments (n = 14) in a nearby low-income housing complex. The IAQ assessments included PM{sub 2.5}, black carbon, ultrafine particles, sulfur, total volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, and air exchange rate. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. None of the indoor pollutant concentrations were significantly different between green and non-green homes. However, we found differences when comparing the concentrations before and after renovation. Measured immediately after renovation, indoor black carbon concentrations were significantly lower averaging 682 ng/m{sup 3} in post-renovation vs. 2364 ng/m{sup 3} in pre-renovation home visits (p = 0.01). In contrast, formaldehyde concentrations were significantly higher in post-renovated (0.03 ppm) than in pre-renovated homes (0.01 ppm) (p = 0.004). Questionnaire data showed that opening of windows occurred less frequently in homes immediately post-renovation compared to pre-renovation; this factor likely affected the levels of indoor black carbon (from outdoor sources) and formaldehyde (from indoor sources) more than the renovation status

Indoor air quality in green-renovated vs. non-green low-income homes of children living in a temperate region of US (Ohio)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coombs, Kanistha C.; Chew, Ginger L.; Schaffer, Christopher; Ryan, Patrick H.; Brokamp, Cole; Grinshpun, Sergey A.; Adamkiewicz, Gary; Chillrud, Steve; Hedman, Curtis; Colton, Meryl; Ross, Jamie; Reponen, Tiina

2016-01-01

Green eco-friendly housing includes approaches to reduce indoor air pollutant sources and to increase energy efficiency. Although sealing/tightening buildings can save energy and reduce the penetration of outdoor pollutants, an adverse outcome can be increased buildup of pollutants with indoor sources. The objective of this study was to determine the differences in the indoor air quality (IAQ) between green and non-green homes in low-income housing complexes. In one housing complex, apartments were renovated using green principles (n = 28). Home visits were conducted immediately after the renovation, and subsequently at 6 months and at 12 months following the renovation. Of these homes, eight homes had pre-renovation home visits; this allowed pre- and post-renovation comparisons within the same homes. Parallel visits were conducted in non-green (control) apartments (n = 14) in a nearby low-income housing complex. The IAQ assessments included PM_2_._5, black carbon, ultrafine particles, sulfur, total volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, and air exchange rate. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. None of the indoor pollutant concentrations were significantly different between green and non-green homes. However, we found differences when comparing the concentrations before and after renovation. Measured immediately after renovation, indoor black carbon concentrations were significantly lower averaging 682 ng/m"3 in post-renovation vs. 2364 ng/m"3 in pre-renovation home visits (p = 0.01). In contrast, formaldehyde concentrations were significantly higher in post-renovated (0.03 ppm) than in pre-renovated homes (0.01 ppm) (p = 0.004). Questionnaire data showed that opening of windows occurred less frequently in homes immediately post-renovation compared to pre-renovation; this factor likely affected the levels of indoor black carbon (from outdoor sources) and formaldehyde (from indoor sources) more than the renovation status itself. To

Environmental indicators: Establishing a common language for green building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dammann, Sven; Elle, Morten

2006-01-01

. The objective of this study was to investigate if (and to what extent) consensus on environmental indicators for buildings as ‘a common language for green building’ can be reached among core actors in the Danish building sector and what such indicators could look like. Based on an analysis of current indicator...... is unlikely. Instead, three likely scenarios are described for the future development of the indicator debate and the directions are identified into which different actors need to move in order to establish indicators that can serve as a common language for green building.......Environmental indicators for buildings have the potential to serve as a means of making the environmental impacts (and possibly benefits) of buildings visible to all relevant actors. In addition, indicators facilitate the consideration and management of an array of environmental issues...

Multi-Hierarchical Gray Correlation Analysis Applied in the Selection of Green Building Design Scheme

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Li; Li, Chuanghong

2018-02-01

As a sustainable form of ecological structure, green building is widespread concerned and advocated in society increasingly nowadays. In the survey and design phase of preliminary project construction, carrying out the evaluation and selection of green building design scheme, which is in accordance with the scientific and reasonable evaluation index system, can improve the ecological benefits of green building projects largely and effectively. Based on the new Green Building Evaluation Standard which came into effect on January 1, 2015, the evaluation index system of green building design scheme is constructed taking into account the evaluation contents related to the green building design scheme. We organized experts who are experienced in construction scheme optimization to mark and determine the weight of each evaluation index through the AHP method. The correlation degree was calculated between each evaluation scheme and ideal scheme by using multilevel gray relational analysis model and then the optimal scheme was determined. The feasibility and practicability of the evaluation method are verified by introducing examples.

Building green supply chains in eco-industrial parks towards a green economy: Barriers and strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jacqueline; Pan, Shu-Yuan; Kim, Hyunook; Linn, Jean H; Chiang, Pen-Chi

2015-10-01

As suggested by UNEP, the key to sustainable development is to create a "green economy" which should encapsulate all three sectors: the industry, the people, and the government. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop and implement the green technologies into the existing facilities, especially in the developing countries. In this study, the role of green supply chains in eco-industrial parks (EIPs) towards a green economy was investigated. The strategies and effective evaluation procedures of the green economy were proposed by assessing the barriers from the perspective of institution, regulation, technology, and finance. In addition, three case studies from iron and steel-making, paper mill and pulping, and petrochemical industries were presented and illustrated for building the green supply chains. For example, in the case of Lin-Hai Industrial Park, a total of 15 efficient green supply chains using waste-to-resources technologies were established by 2012, resulting in an economic benefit of USD 100 million per year. It suggests that the green supply chains should be established to achieve both economic growth and environmental protection. With these successful experiences, building a green supply chain within industrial park should be extensively promoted to make traditional industries around the world being environmentally bearable, economic viable, and social equitable. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changes in productivity, psychological wellbeing and physical wellbeing from working in a 'green' building.

Science.gov (United States)

Thatcher, Andrew; Milner, Karen

2014-01-01

Based on improvements in indoor environmental quality claims are that 'green' buildings are healthier and promote greater productivity than conventional buildings. However, the empirical evidence over the last decade has been inconclusive, usually with flawed study designs. This study explored whether a 'green' building leads to a healthier, more productive work environment. A one-year, longitudinal comparison of two groups of employees of a large commercial bank; a group that moved into a GreenStar-accredited building and a group that stayed in a conventional building, was conducted. Measures of psychological wellbeing, physical wellbeing, productivity, and perceptions of the physical environment were taken before the move, six months later, and one year later. Results indicate that the 'green' building group had significantly increased self-reported productivity and physical wellbeing. The perceptions of the physical work environment indicate that respondents in the 'green' building group experienced significant air quality improvements (specifically, reduced stale air, better ventilation, improved air movement, reduced humidity, and conditions that were not too drafty) but perceived the lighting conditions as dimmer. Despite positive findings 'green' building rating tools require amendment to focus on those qualities that actually lead to improved wellbeing and productivity.

A Green Building--The Good, the Bad, the Neutral

Science.gov (United States)

McDermott, Richard L.

2010-01-01

In 2010, it's good to be Green. In the stampede to sustainable design, there are probably some Green features that have not received a lot of scrutiny, and some that may not apply to all projects. The author happens to have joined an institution with one of the larger Green office/classrooms buildings in the U.S. The University of Texas Health…

The Impact of Green Supply Chain Management on Transportation Cost Reduction in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet SARIDOGAN

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Supply chain management (SCM has become an important competitive approach for organizations. The issue of green supply chain management is critical for the successful implementation of industrial ecosystems and industrial ecology. Organizations have a number of reasons for implementing these green supply chain policies, from reactive regulatory reasons, to proactive strategic and competitive advantage reasons. From an overall environmental and organizational perspective, it is important to understand the situation and what issues exist in this field. Many organizations worldwide have already experienced globalization and a shifting focus to competition among networks of companies in this environment. Multinational enterprises have established global networks of suppliers that take advantage of country-industry specific characteristics to build this competitive advantage. To success having this competitive advantage, logistics and supply chain managers have to balance efforts to reduce costs and innovate while maintaining good environmental (ecological performance (Pagell et al., 2004. Therefore, today, competition is not between companies, between supply chains. This study brings us the effect of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM on the Transportation Cost Reduction (TCR.

Acoustical case studies of three green buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Siebein, Gary; Lilkendey, Robert; Skorski, Stephen

2005-04-01

Case studies of 3 green buildings with LEED certifications that required extensive acoustical retrofit work to become satisfactory work environments for their intended user groups will be used to define areas where green building design concepts and acoustical design concepts require reconciliation. Case study 1 is an office and conference center for a city environmental education agency. Large open spaces intended to collect daylight through clerestory windows provided large, reverberant volumes with few acoustic finishes that rendered them unsuitable as open office space and a conference room/auditorium. Case Study 2 describes one of the first gold LEED buildings in the southeast whose primary design concepts were so narrowly focused on thermal and lighting issues that they often worked directly against basic acoustical requirements resulting in sound levels of NC 50-55 in classrooms and faculty offices, crosstalk between classrooms and poor room acoustics. Case study 3 is an environmental education and conference center with open public areas, very high ceilings, and all reflective surfaces made from wood and other environmentally friendly materials that result in excessive loudness when the building is used by the numbers of people which it was intended to serve.

IGBC&E – A national framework for green buildings in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Government adopted A National Framework for Green Building in South Africa (NFGBSA) in November 2011 as its official policy toward green building. The NFGBSA assists Government in meeting its sustainable development commitments through its...

The Cost of Enforcing Building Energy Codes: Phase 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Alison [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Vine, Ed [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Price, Sarah [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Sturges, Andrew [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Rosenquist, Greg [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2013-04-01

The purpose of this literature review is to summarize key findings regarding the costs associated with enforcing building energy code compliance—primarily focusing on costs borne by local government. The review takes into consideration over 150 documents that discuss, to some extent, code enforcement. This review emphasizes those documents that specifically focus on costs associated with energy code enforcement. Given the low rates of building energy code compliance that have been reported in existing studies, as well as the many barriers to both energy code compliance and enforcement, this study seeks to identify the costs of initiatives to improve compliance and enforcement. Costs are reported primarily as presented in the original source. Some costs are given on a per home or per building basis, and others are provided for jurisdictions of a certain size. This literature review gives an overview of state-based compliance rates, barriers to code enforcement, and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and key stakeholder involvement in improving compliance with building energy codes. In addition, the processes and costs associated with compliance and enforcement of building energy codes are presented. The second phase of this study, which will be presented in a different report, will consist of surveying 34 experts in the building industry at the national and state or local levels in order to obtain additional cost information, building on the findings from the first phase, as well as recommendations for where to most effectively spend money on compliance and enforcement.

Valuation of Green Commercial Office Building: A Preliminary Study of Malaysian Valuers' Insight

OpenAIRE

Tuti Haryati Jasimin; Hishamuddin Mohd Ali

2015-01-01

Malaysia's green building development is gaining momentum and green buildings have become a key focus area, especially within the commercial sector with the encouragement of government legislation and policy. Due to the emerging awareness among the market players' views of the benefits associated with the ownership of green buildings in Malaysia, there is a need for valuers to incorporate consideration of sustainability into their assessments of property market value to e...

Assessing Sustainability in Developing Country Contexts: The Applicability of Green Building Rating Systems to Building Design and Construction in Madagascar and Tanzania

OpenAIRE

Ozolins, Peter Charles

2010-01-01

Buildings have significant and complex impacts both in their construction and in their use. Green building rating systems have been developed and promoted in more economically-advanced countries to offer guidelines to reduce negative impacts and to promote sustainable practices of building construction and operations. The green building rating system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), established in 1995 by the U.S. Green Building Council, is increasingly accepted as...

Time to propagate green building construction concept for saving precious resources sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, Z.

2005-01-01

At present, we are constructing houses and buildings without giving any consideration to consumption of resources at the time of construction and consumption of resources for the use of such houses or buildings. ; Although green is our color but we are doing little about green building. Time has now come to propagate Green Building Construction Concepts in order to save our precious resources. The paper deals with dire need of awareness about conservation of water, conservation of energy, use of local materials, use of natural materials, etc. (author)

Green Template for Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings Based on Building Information Modeling: Focus on Embodied Environmental Impact

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sungwoo Lee

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The increased popularity of building information modeling (BIM for application in the construction of eco-friendly green buildings has given rise to techniques for evaluating green buildings constructed using BIM features. Existing BIM-based green building evaluation techniques mostly rely on externally provided evaluation tools, which pose problems associated with interoperability, including a lack of data compatibility and the amount of time required for format conversion. To overcome these problems, this study sets out to develop a template (the “green template” for evaluating the embodied environmental impact of using a BIM design tool as part of BIM-based building life-cycle assessment (LCA technology development. Firstly, the BIM level of detail (LOD was determined to evaluate the embodied environmental impact, and constructed a database of the impact factors of the embodied environmental impact of the major building materials, thereby adopting an LCA-based approach. The libraries of major building elements were developed by using the established databases and compiled evaluation table of the embodied environmental impact of the building materials. Finally, the green template was developed as an embodied environmental impact evaluation tool and a case study was performed to test its applicability. The results of the green template-based embodied environmental impact evaluation of a test building were validated against those of its actual quantity takeoff (2D takeoff, and its reliability was confirmed by an effective error rate of ≤5%. This study aims to develop a system for assessing the impact of the substances discharged from concrete production process on six environmental impact categories, i.e., global warming (GWP, acidification (AP, eutrophication (EP, abiotic depletion (ADP, ozone depletion (ODP, and photochemical oxidant creation (POCP, using the life a cycle assessment (LCA method. To achieve this, we proposed an LCA method

Building Minds, Minding Buildings: Our Union's Road Map to Green and Sustainable Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Spake, Amanda

2008-01-01

Late in 2006, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) released the first report in this series, "Building Minds, Minding Buildings: Turning Crumbling Schools into Environments for Learning." This second report, which covers the green schools movement is a natural follow-up; it highlights the work of AFT members and affiliates involved…

Investment opportunity : the FPL low-cost solar dry kiln

Science.gov (United States)

George B. Harpole

1988-01-01

Two equations are presented that may be used to estimate a maximum investment limit and working capital requirements for the FPL low-cost solar dry kiln systems. The equations require data for drying cycle time, green lumber cost, and kiln-dried lumber costs. Results are intended to provide a preliminary estimate.

STTR Phase I: Low-Cost, High-Accuracy, Whole-Building Carbon Dioxide Monitoring for Demand Control Ventilation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hallstrom, Jason; Ni, Zheng Richard

2018-05-15

This STTR Phase I project assessed the feasibility of a new CO2 sensing system optimized for low-cost, high-accuracy, whole-building monitoring for use in demand control ventilation. The focus was on the development of a wireless networking platform and associated firmware to provide signal conditioning and conversion, fault- and disruptiontolerant networking, and multi-hop routing at building scales to avoid wiring costs. Early exploration of a bridge (or “gateway”) to direct digital control services was also explored. Results of the project contributed to an improved understanding of a new electrochemical sensor for monitoring indoor CO2 concentrations, as well as the electronics and networking infrastructure required to deploy those sensors at building scales. New knowledge was acquired concerning the sensor’s accuracy, environmental response, and failure modes, and the acquisition electronics required to achieve accuracy over a wide range of CO2 concentrations. The project demonstrated that the new sensor offers repeatable correspondence with commercial optical sensors, with supporting electronics that offer gain accuracy within 0.5%, and acquisition accuracy within 1.5% across three orders of magnitude variation in generated current. Considering production, installation, and maintenance costs, the technology presents a foundation for achieving whole-building CO2 sensing at a price point below $0.066 / sq-ft – meeting economic feasibility criteria established by the Department of Energy. The technology developed under this award addresses obstacles on the critical path to enabling whole-building CO2 sensing and demand control ventilation in commercial retrofits, small commercial buildings, residential complexes, and other highpotential structures that have been slow to adopt these technologies. It presents an opportunity to significantly reduce energy use throughout the United States a

Deep influence of passive low energy consumption multi-storey residential building in cold region

Science.gov (United States)

Shuai, Zhang; Lihua, Zhao; Rong, Jin; Dong, Junyan

2018-02-01

The example of passive architecture demonstration building in Jilin Province, China, based on the practical experience of this project, the control index of passive and low energy consumption residential buildings in cold and passive buildings is referenced by reference to the German construction standard and the Chinese residence construction document, “passive ultra-low energy consumption green Building Technology Guide (Trial)”. The requirement of passive low energy residential buildings on the ground heat transfer coefficient limits is determined, and the performance requirements of passive residential buildings are discussed. This paper analyzes the requirement of the passive low energy residential building on the ground heat transfer coefficient limit, and probes into the influence factors of the ground thermal insulation of the passive low energy consumption residential building. The construction method of passive low energy consumption residential building is proposed.

Human Factors in Green Office Building Design: The Impact of Workplace Green Features on Health Perceptions in High-Rise High-Density Asian Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Xue

2016-10-01

Full Text Available There is a growing concern about human factors in green building, which is imperative in high-rise high-density urban environments. This paper describes our attempts to explore the influence of workplace green features (such as green certification, ventilation mode, and building morphology on health perceptions (personal sensation, sensorial assumptions, healing performance based on a survey in Hong Kong and Singapore. The results validated the relationship between green features and health perceptions in the workplace environment. Remarkably, participants from the air-conditioned offices revealed significant higher concerns about health issues than those participants from the mixed-ventilated offices. The mixed-ventilation design performs as a bridge to connect the indoor environment and outdoor space, which enables people to have contact with nature. Additionally, the preferred building morphology of the workplace is the pattern of a building complex instead of a single building. The complex form integrates the configuration of courtyards, podium gardens, green terrace, public plaza, and other types of open spaces with the building clusters, which contributes to better health perceptions. This research contributes to the rationalization and optimization of passive climate-adaptive design strategies for green buildings in high-density tropical or subtropical cities.

Occupant satisfaction with the acoustical environment : green office buildings before and after treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hodgson, M. [British Columbia Univ., Vancouver, BC (Canada). School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, Acoustics and Noise Research Group

2009-07-01

Sustainable architecture is meant to preserve the environment and conserve natural resources, as well as provide an environment for the occupants that promotes wellbeing and productivity. Occupants generally claim that the acoustical environment is the least satisfactory aspect of green office buildings. They are dissatisfied with excessive noise and poor speech privacy. This paper reported on the results of 2 studies of the acoustical environments in green office buildings before and after acoustical-control measures were installed. Acoustical quality was evaluated by occupant-satisfaction surveys and acoustical-parameter measurements. The first study, which involved 6 green office buildings, showed that buildings designed to obtain LEED ratings are unlikely to have satisfactory acoustical environments. A naturally-ventilated, green university building with a poor acoustical environment was examined in the second study. The results of this study suggest that improving acoustical environments in green buildings requires good acoustical design, with input from an acoustical specialist from the beginning of the design process. The design should consider site selection and building orientation; external envelope and penetrations in it; building layout and internal partitions; HVAC systems; appropriate dimensioning of spaces; and the amount and location of sound absorbing treatments. The study also showed that a building's energy efficiency, lighting, ventilation, air-quality and acoustics are interconnected, and that no aspect can be successfully designed in isolation. It was concluded that optimized engineering-control measures can improve poor acoustical environments. 11 refs., 1 tab., 1 fig.

Green roof adoption in atlanta, georgia: the effects of building characteristics and subsidies on net private, public, and social benefits.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullen, Jeffrey D; Lamsal, Madhur; Colson, Greg

2013-10-01

This research draws on and expands previous studies that have quantified the costs and benefits associated with conventional roofs versus green roofs. Using parameters from those studies to define alternative scenarios, we estimate from a private, public, and social perspective the costs and benefits of installing and maintaining an extensive green roof in Atlanta, GA. Results indicate net private benefits are a decreasing function of roof size and vary considerably across scenarios. In contrast, net public benefits are highly stable across scenarios, ranging from $32.49 to $32.90 m(-2). In addition, we evaluate two alternative subsidy regimes: (i) a general subsidy provided to every building that adopts a green roof and (ii) a targeted subsidy provided only to buildings for which net private benefits are negative but net public benefits are positive. In 6 of the 12 general subsidy scenarios the optimal public policy is not to offer a subsidy; in 5 scenarios the optimal subsidy rate is between $20 and $27 m(-2); and in 1 scenario the optimal rate is $5 m(-2). The optimal rate with a targeted subsidy is between $20 and $27 m(-2) in 11 scenarios and no subsidy is optimal in the twelfth. In most scenarios, a significant portion of net public benefits are generated by buildings for which net private benefits are positive. This suggests a policy focused on information dissemination and technical assistance may be more cost-effective than direct subsidy payments.

Contribution Index Based on Green Building Certification Systems

OpenAIRE

Yuting Sun; Bee Hua Goh

2015-01-01

Green Building Certification Systems (GBCS) are carried out in many countries due to the rising awareness of the importance of sustainability in the building industry. The intention should have motivated participants to construct and operate buildings sustainably, however, there is not yet a method developed to investigate the motivation of the participants. Based on the GBCS, this paper proposes the contribution index as a standard global method to analyze the performance of participants in ...

Study on the factors that influence the intention of college students to participate in the green building

OpenAIRE

Hung ChienJen; Lai Chenchen; Chen Meiyan

2017-01-01

The concept of green building has been extended for a period of time on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. However, there still is curiosity and skepticism in Fujian on green building. While in Taiwan, villages are filled with green-evolved houses and modern environmental farmhouses. With Theory of Planned Behavior as the framework, this study investigates influences of college students’ attitude toward green building, subjective norms of green building and perceived behavioral control of green...

Use of kaolin as a potential low-cost adsorbent for the removal of malachite green from colored effluents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Foletto, E.L.; Caponi, N.; Collazzo, G.C.; Jahn, S.L.; Dotto, G.L.; Mazutti, M.A. [Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), RS (Brazil)

2016-07-01

Full text: This study investigated the potential of raw kaolin as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal Malachite Green (MG) from colored effluents. The morphology, chemical structure and the surface properties of the adsorbent were investigated by characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A possible technological application of kaolin is the MG removal from aqueous media, which was investigated by batch adsorption experiments. The adsorption kinetics was studied using the pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and Elovich models. The adsorption isotherms were studied using Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips models. Maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 128 mg g-1, and this satisfactory result may be associated to some properties of adsorbent. Therefore, the results of this investigation revealed that kaolin can be utilized as a promising low-cost adsorbent to remove MG from colored effluents. (author)

Indoor air quality in green-renovated vs. non-green low-income homes of children living in a temperate region of US (Ohio).

Science.gov (United States)

Coombs, Kanistha C; Chew, Ginger L; Schaffer, Christopher; Ryan, Patrick H; Brokamp, Cole; Grinshpun, Sergey A; Adamkiewicz, Gary; Chillrud, Steve; Hedman, Curtis; Colton, Meryl; Ross, Jamie; Reponen, Tiina

2016-06-01

Green eco-friendly housing includes approaches to reduce indoor air pollutant sources and to increase energy efficiency. Although sealing/tightening buildings can save energy and reduce the penetration of outdoor pollutants, an adverse outcome can be increased buildup of pollutants with indoor sources. The objective of this study was to determine the differences in the indoor air quality (IAQ) between green and non-green homes in low-income housing complexes. In one housing complex, apartments were renovated using green principles (n=28). Home visits were conducted immediately after the renovation, and subsequently at 6 months and at 12 months following the renovation. Of these homes, eight homes had pre-renovation home visits; this allowed pre- and post-renovation comparisons within the same homes. Parallel visits were conducted in non-green (control) apartments (n=14) in a nearby low-income housing complex. The IAQ assessments included PM2.5, black carbon, ultrafine particles, sulfur, total volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, and air exchange rate. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. None of the indoor pollutant concentrations were significantly different between green and non-green homes. However, we found differences when comparing the concentrations before and after renovation. Measured immediately after renovation, indoor black carbon concentrations were significantly lower averaging 682 ng/m(3) in post-renovation vs. 2364 ng/m(3) in pre-renovation home visits (p=0.01). In contrast, formaldehyde concentrations were significantly higher in post-renovated (0.03 ppm) than in pre-renovated homes (0.01 ppm) (p=0.004). Questionnaire data showed that opening of windows occurred less frequently in homes immediately post-renovation compared to pre-renovation; this factor likely affected the levels of indoor black carbon (from outdoor sources) and formaldehyde (from indoor sources) more than the renovation status itself. To reduce IAQ

Re-Assessing Green Building Performance: A Post Occupancy Evaluation of 22 GSA Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fowler, Kimberly M.; Rauch, Emily M.; Henderson, Jordan W.; Kora, Angela R.

2010-06-01

2nd report on the performance of GSA's sustainably designed buildings. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of measured whole building performance as it compares to GSA and industry baselines. The PNNL research team found the data analysis illuminated strengths and weaknesses of individual buildings as well as the portfolio of buildings. This section includes summary data, observations that cross multiple performance metrics, discussion of lessons learned from this research, and opportunities for future research. The summary of annual data for each of the performance metrics is provided in Table 25. The data represent 1 year of measurements and are not associated with any specific design features or strategies. Where available, multiple years of data were examined and there were minimal significant differences between the years. Individually focused post occupancy evaluation (POEs) would allow for more detailed analysis of the buildings. Examining building performance over multiple years could potentially offer a useful diagnostic tool for identifying building operations that are in need of operational changes. Investigating what the connection is between the building performance and the design intent would offer potential design guidance and possible insight into building operation strategies. The 'aggregate operating cost' metric used in this study represents the costs that were available for developing a comparative industry baseline for office buildings. The costs include water utilities, energy utilities, general maintenance, grounds maintenance, waste and recycling, and janitorial costs. Three of the buildings that cost more than the baseline in Figure 45 have higher maintenance costs than the baseline, and one has higher energy costs. Given the volume of data collected and analyzed for this study, the inevitable request is for a simple answer with respect to sustainably designed building performance. As previously stated

Energy conservation in developing countries using green building idea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rashid, Akram; Qureshi, Ijaz Mansoor

2013-01-01

Green buildings uses processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle. In these buildings Certain energy conservative and environment friendly steps are considered and implemented from design, construction, operation, maintenance and renovation. In present era no doubt new technologies are constantly constructed and used in creating greener structures, energy efficient buildings. The common objective is to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health using available energy efficiently. To increase the efficiency of the System or the building, Onsite generation of renewable energy through solar power, wind power, hydro power, or biomasscan significantly reduce the environmental impact of the building. Power generation is generally the most expensive feature to add to a building. Any how power generation using renewable sources that is Solar system may further enhance energy conservation ideas. Power Factor improvement can also be another source of efficient tool for efficient use of Electrical Energy in green buildings. In developing countries a significant amount of Electrical Energy can be conserved and System efficiency as a whole can be increased by Power Factor correction. The reverse flow of power can be locally engaged instead of creating extra stress and opposition to the existing grid lines.

ICC 700-2012: 2012 National Green Building Standard (ICC 700)

Science.gov (United States)

Description of the ICC 700-2012: 2012 National Green Building Standard, a rating and certification system that aims to encourage increased environmental and health performance in residences and residential portions of buildings.

A Review of Green Building Development in China from the Perspective of Energy Saving

OpenAIRE

Ying Zhang; Jian Kang; Hong Jin

2018-01-01

This paper reviews the history of green building development and assessment standards in China, particularly from the perspective of energy saving. It is divided into four parts: (1) the development of policies of green building in China that have been proposed for meeting energy-conservation and emission-reduction targets; (2) the scientific research on green building by the Chinese government, including the promotion of maximum resource sustainability, environmental protection, and the redu...

Greening Existing Tribal Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Guidance about improving sustainability in existing tribal casinos and manufactured homes. Many steps can be taken to make existing buildings greener and healthier. They may also reduce utility and medical costs.

Greenbacks from green roofs: forging a new industry in Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peck, S. W.; Callaghan, C. [Peck and Associates, Toronto, ON (Canada); Bass, B. [Environment Canada, Toronto, ON (Canada); Kuhn, M. [Toronto, ON (Canada)

1999-03-01

This report provides a comprehensive review of the qualitative and quantitative benefits of green roof and vertical garden technologies, explains the nature of roof greening and green roof systems, examines the barriers to their more rapid diffusion into Canadian markets, and makes recommendations as to how how these barriers may be overcome. Two basic types of green roof systems, extensive and intensive, are identified. Extensive green roofs are characterized by their low weight, low capital cost and low maintenance. Intensive green roofs, by contrast, are heavier, more costly to establish, require intensive planting and higher maintenance. Both types of green roofs may be further subdivided into accessible or inaccessible. Accessible green roofs are flat, outdoor open spaces intended for use as gardens or terraces, while inaccessible roofs are only accessible for periodic maintenance. 'Vertical gardens' are a type of extensive green roof, characterized by the growing of plants on or up against the facade of buildings. The many benefits of green roof or vertical garden technologies include energy cost savings due to increased insulation and improved protection of the roof membrane, air quality improvements, new employment opportunities for a wide range of people including suppliers of roof membranes and related products, and social benefits such as improved aesthetics, health and horticultural therapy. Barriers to diffusion in Canada have been identified as lack of awareness, lack of incentives to implement, cost implications, lack of technical standards, few existing examples and risks associated with uncertainty. The recommendations to overcome market barriers are intended to address these barriers, i.e. they call for increased efforts to generate awareness through addressing the knowledge availability issue, and through high profile demonstration projects, government-sponsored technology diffusion, financial incentives to overcome cost-based barriers

Community action for sustainable housing: Building a low-carbon future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seyfang, Gill

2010-01-01

This paper presents a new analytical framework of 'grassroots innovations' which views community-led initiatives for sustainable development as strategic green niches with the potential for wider transformation of mainstream society. This framework is applied to a low-carbon, low-impact, community-based sustainable housing initiative in the USA that pioneers straw bale housing techniques within a strong community-building ethos. The project is evaluated according to New Economics criteria of sustainable consumption, and is found to be successful at localising the construction supply chain, reducing ecological footprints, community-building, enabling collective action and building new institutions and systems of provision around housebuilding. However, viewing it as a strategic niche with aim to influence wider society, it is clear that it faces significant challenges in diffusing its ideas and practices beyond the niche. Its model is not necessarily suitable for scaling up or widespread replication; however, the scope for niche lessons to be adopted by mainstream builders is greater, given a supportive policy environment. Recognising the innovative nature of green niches at the policy level could lead to new approaches to governance of bottom-up community action for sustainable development.

Green Buildings in Denmark – From radical ecology to consumer oriented market approaches?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Ole; Gram-Hanssen, Kirsten

2004-01-01

Gram-Hanssen and Jensen explore the development of green buildings in Denmark over the last three decades, identifying differences in design philosophies and techniques. They look at four approaches to green buildings: as energy-saving devices, as ecological grassroots alternatives, as subsidised...... large-scale urban projects, and as consumer products in a market approach. Using detailed case descriptions, the chapter asks to what extent it is possible to define some buildings or some approaches as more 'green' than others. The authors suggest that in order to more fully understand sustainable...... buildings we must account for the social structuring of both the identification of environmental problems and their resulting embodiment in built form....

Energy and Economic Evaluation of Green Roofs for Residential Buildings in Hot-Humid Climates

OpenAIRE

Abubakar S. Mahmoud; Muhammad Asif; Mohammad A. Hassanain; Mohammad O. Babsail; Muizz O. Sanni-Anibire

2017-01-01

Green roofs may be considered a passive energy saving technology that also offer benefits like environmental friendliness and enhancement of aesthetic and architectural qualities of buildings. This paper examines the energy and economic viability of the green roof technology in the hot humid climate of Saudi Arabia by considering a modern four bedroom residential building in the city of Dhahran as a case study. The base case and green roof modelling of the selected building has been developed...

Green signalling effects in the market for energy-efficient residential buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuerst, Franz; Oikarinen, Elias; Harjunen, Oskari

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Energy efficiency (EE) levels are hypothesised to affect house transaction prices. • We estimate a hedonic model using Energy Performance Certificates from Finland. • A price premium is found for the most energy-efficient properties. • The empirical results are suggestive of a green signalling effect. • Demand for EE high performers appears to be segmented from lower tiers. - Abstract: Empirical evidence from recent studies suggests that the price premium on energy-efficient buildings is potentially higher than the pure capitalisation of energy savings but the empirical evidence on the size of the non-savings components is scant. This study aims to fill this research gap by investigating whether the mandatory energy efficiency ratings for residential properties imply benefits that go beyond energy savings. Using a sample of several thousand apartment transactions from Helsinki, Finland, we first test if higher ratings were significantly associated with higher prices. In addition to a large number of property and neighbourhood characteristics, this dataset contains information on building-level energy usage which allows us to distinguish between the cost savings effect of energy consumption and the value of more intangible factors associated with the energy label. The hedonic model yields a statistically significant 3.3% price premium for apartments in the top three energy-efficiency categories and 1.5% when a set of detailed neighbourhood characteristics are included. When maintenance costs containing energy usage costs are added, a robust and significant price premium of 1.3% persists whereas no differentiation is found for the medium and lower rating categories. These findings may be indicative of energy-efficient buildings having signalling value – and therefore an additional incentive to invest in such buildings – for ‘green’ consumers. However, a favourable energy rating did not appear to speed up the sales process in the

On-Site Renewable Energy and Green Buildings: A System-Level Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ghamdi, Sami G; Bilec, Melissa M

2016-05-03

Adopting a green building rating system (GBRSs) that strongly considers use of renewable energy can have important environmental consequences, particularly in developing countries. In this paper, we studied on-site renewable energy and GBRSs at the system level to explore potential benefits and challenges. While we have focused on GBRSs, the findings can offer additional insight for renewable incentives across sectors. An energy model was built for 25 sites to compute the potential solar and wind power production on-site and available within the building footprint and regional climate. A life-cycle approach and cost analysis were then completed to analyze the environmental and economic impacts. Environmental impacts of renewable energy varied dramatically between sites, in some cases, the environmental benefits were limited despite the significant economic burden of those renewable systems on-site and vice versa. Our recommendation for GBRSs, and broader policies and regulations, is to require buildings with higher environmental impacts to achieve higher levels of energy performance and on-site renewable energy utilization, instead of fixed percentages.

Valuing the benefits of creek rehabilitation: building a business case for public investments in urban green infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Mekala, Gayathri Devi; Jones, Roger N; MacDonald, Darla Hatton

2015-06-01

In an effort to increase the livability of its cities, public agencies in Australia are investing in green infrastructure to improve public health, reduce heat island effects and transition toward water sensitive urban design. In this paper, we present a simple and replicable approach to building a business case for green infrastructure. This approach requires much less time and resources compared to other methods for estimating the social and economic returns to society from such investments. It is a pragmatic, reasonably comprehensive approach that includes socio-demographic profile of potential users and catchment analysis to assess the economic value of community benefits of the investment. The approach has been applied to a case study area in the City of Brimbank, a western suburb of Greater Melbourne. We find that subject to a set of assumptions, a reasonable business case can be made. We estimate potential public benefits of avoided health costs of about AU$75,049 per annum and potential private benefits of AU$3.9 million. The project area is one of the most poorly serviced areas in the municipality in terms of quality open spaces and the potential beneficiaries are from relatively low income households with less than average health status and education levels. The values of cultural (recreational benefits, avoided health costs, and increased property values) and regulating (reduction in heat island effect and carbon sequestration) ecosystem services were quantified that can potentially offset annual maintenance costs.

Valuing the Benefits of Creek Rehabilitation: Building a Business Case for Public Investments in Urban Green Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Mekala, Gayathri Devi; Jones, Roger N.; MacDonald, Darla Hatton

2015-06-01

In an effort to increase the livability of its cities, public agencies in Australia are investing in green infrastructure to improve public health, reduce heat island effects and transition toward water sensitive urban design. In this paper, we present a simple and replicable approach to building a business case for green infrastructure. This approach requires much less time and resources compared to other methods for estimating the social and economic returns to society from such investments. It is a pragmatic, reasonably comprehensive approach that includes socio-demographic profile of potential users and catchment analysis to assess the economic value of community benefits of the investment. The approach has been applied to a case study area in the City of Brimbank, a western suburb of Greater Melbourne. We find that subject to a set of assumptions, a reasonable business case can be made. We estimate potential public benefits of avoided health costs of about AU75,049 per annum and potential private benefits of AU3.9 million. The project area is one of the most poorly serviced areas in the municipality in terms of quality open spaces and the potential beneficiaries are from relatively low income households with less than average health status and education levels. The values of cultural (recreational benefits, avoided health costs, and increased property values) and regulating (reduction in heat island effect and carbon sequestration) ecosystem services were quantified that can potentially offset annual maintenance costs.

Implementation Opportunities of Green Accounting for Activity-Based Costing (ABC in Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sorinel Capusneanu

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This article refers to implementation opportunities of green accounting for the Activity- Based Costing method. It shows why we choose Activity-Based Costing method and what must be done in this way. Green accounting observes the specific principles of the Activity-Based Costing method. It also represents the advantages and disadvantages of the green accounting into an enterprise in case of Activity-Based Costing implementation. The paper describes the stages we must follow in case of implementation of green accounting alongside Activity-Based Costing method into an enterprise.

Foundations for low cost buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sayed Abdel Salam

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Attaining an economical and safe design of structures is regarded as a prerequisite for the structural engineer. The market prices of reinforcing steels have dramatically soared in recent years internationally. Therefore, the purpose of the current paper is not just reducing the ratio of reinforcing steel in the foundations for skeleton structures, but rather minimizing this ratio through choosing the most effective footing shape (folded strip footings. Folded footings have been used as an alternative to the conventional rectangular strip footings. The height of the studied model is ten floors. Two different foundation systems are used in the analysis namely; rectangular strip footings, and folded strip footings respectively. Both footing shapes will be designed as continuous footings with grid shape under the building. Comparison between the two systems is also presented regarding the concrete sections and reinforcement ratio under the same applied loads. The finite element analysis software ADINA is used in modeling and analysis of the structural and geotechnical behavior of both types of footings, with emphasis on the effect of changing the footing shape on the stresses in the footing concrete body and the underlying soils. Research results presents the internal stresses within the footing and soil domains, as well as the contact pressure distribution for a reinforced folded strip footing resting on different soil types. The influence of folding inclination angle, and soil type on the results are also studied. Results showed that folded strip footings are efficient in reducing the amount of needed reinforcements, and such efficiency in reducing the required steel reinforcement in the footings is depending on the applied footing loads, and to some degree on the soil type and properties. Reduction in the reinforcement ratio between the rectangular and folded footing types is about 26% in favor of the folded strip footings. A comparative

Green buildings for Egypt: a call for an integrated policy

Science.gov (United States)

Bampou, P.

2017-11-01

As global warming is on the threshold of each country worldwide, Middle East and North African (MENA) region has already adopted energy efficiency (EE) policies on several consuming sectors. The present paper valuates the impact of temperature increase in the residential building sector of Egypt that is the most integrated example of the 7 out of the 20 MENA countries that have started their green efforts upon building environment. Furthermore, as it is based on a literature research upon socio-economic characteristics, existing building stock, existing legal and institutional framework, it elaborates a quantitative evaluation of Egypt's energy-saving potential, outlining basic constraints upon energy conservation, in order for Egypt to be able to handle the high energy needs due to its warm climate. Last but not least, the paper proposes a policy pathway for the implementation of green building codes and concludes with the best available technologies to promote EE in the Egyptian building sector.

Transit green building action plan : report to congress

Science.gov (United States)

2009-06-04

The explanatory statement accompanying the fiscal year 2009 Omnibus appropriations : act1 directed the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to submit a transit facility green : building action plan to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriati...

Thermal efficiency of low cost solar collectors - CSBC; Eficiencia termica de coletores solares de baixo custo - CSBC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereira, Renato C.; Shiota, Robson T.; Mello, Samuel F.; Assis Junior, Valdir; Bartoli, Julio R. [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Engenharia Quimica. Dept. de Tecnologia de Polimeros

2006-07-01

The thermal performance of a low cost flat panel solar collector was measured. This Low Cost Solar Collector is a novel concept for water heating using only thermoplastics materials, used on building: ceiling and tubes made of unplasticized PVC, but without transparent cover. The top side of the UPVC panel was black painted to be the solar radiation absorber surface. Prototypes were installed on two charity houses around Campinas and at the FEQ campus, being used without any trouble for one year. The thermal efficiency analysis followed ABNT NBR 10184 standard at the Green-Solar Laboratory, Brazilian Centre for Development of Solar Thermal Energy, PUC-Minas. It was measured a thermal efficiency of 67%, compared to the 75% usually found on conventional solar collectors made of copper tubes and with glass cover. (author)

Dynamic Simulation of the Green Roofs Impact on Building Energy Performance, Case Study of Antananarivo, Madagascar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hery Tiana Rakotondramiarana

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Green roofs improve building energy performance and constitute an alternative to sustainable buildings. A green roof model is dynamically coupled with a building thermal model to assess its energy performance that takes into account the indoor air temperature dynamic changes. Under the climate conditions in Antananarivo, we compared green and conventional roofs. The present study shows that green roofs protect the roof structure under extreme temperature and large temperature fluctuations. For the case of Antananarivo, the amplitude of the temperature fluctuations at the top face of the support is reduced by 28 °C when using green roof. The impact of the green roof on indoor air temperature and energy demand is investigated. The vegetation decreases the maximum indoor air temperature and improves the building thermal comfort during summer days. It has no effect on the minimum indoor air temperature, but additional soil thickness can increase it. In addition, a global sensitivity analysis, which is carried out on the proposed model without considering any specific weather data, allows us to identify the most influential parameters on the energy demand. It has been found that green roofs have almost insignificant thermal impact in insulated buildings; however, their potential prevails over the building envelope and weather characteristics in the case of non-insulated building.

Energy and Economic Evaluation of Green Roofs for Residential Buildings in Hot-Humid Climates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abubakar S. Mahmoud

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Green roofs may be considered a passive energy saving technology that also offer benefits like environmental friendliness and enhancement of aesthetic and architectural qualities of buildings. This paper examines the energy and economic viability of the green roof technology in the hot humid climate of Saudi Arabia by considering a modern four bedroom residential building in the city of Dhahran as a case study. The base case and green roof modelling of the selected building has been developed with the help of DesignBuilder software. The base case model has been validated with the help of 3-month measured data about the energy consumption without a green roof installed. The result shows that the energy consumption for the base case is 169 kWh/m2 while the energy consumption due to the application of a green roof on the entire roof surface is 110 kWh/m2. For the three investigated green roof options, energy saving is found to be in the range of 24% to 35%. The economic evaluation based on the net present value (NPV approach for 40 years with consideration to other environmental advantages indicates that the benefits of the green roof technology are realized towards the end of the life cycle of the building.

Technological features of installation of transformable low-rise buildings from sandwich panels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pleshivtsev Aleksandr Aleksandrovich

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Subject of research: organizational and technological solutions are considered in the construction of transformable low-rise residential buildings using sandwich panels. Aims: rational choice of organizational and technological solutions for the rhythmic construction of the underground and above-ground part of the transformable low-rise buildings in order to reduce labor costs and construction time. Materials and methods: methods of computer modeling of the technological processes are used to determine the duration of the construction of the low-rise buildings. Results: rational methods for erecting a complex of transformable low-rise buildings are defined, parameters of technological processes are established, an analysis of technological operations is provided for the construction of transformable low-rise residential buildings using sandwich panels. Conclusions: now organizational and technological solutions for the construction of transformable low-rise residential buildings with the use of sandwich panels reduce labour costs, increase the construction pace and as well as the using of improved technological processes in the construction of such buildings leads to a reduction in construction time.

Improving building performance using smart building concept: Benefit cost ratio comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Berawi, Mohammed Ali; Miraj, Perdana; Sayuti, Mustika Sari; Berawi, Abdur Rohim Boy

2017-11-01

Smart building concept is an implementation of technology developed in the construction industry throughout the world. However, the implementation of this concept is still below expectations due to various obstacles such as higher initial cost than a conventional concept and existing regulation siding with the lowest cost in the tender process. This research aims to develop intelligent building concept using value engineering approach to obtain added value regarding quality, efficiency, and innovation. The research combined quantitative and qualitative approach using questionnaire survey and value engineering method to achieve the research objectives. The research output will show additional functions regarding technology innovation that may increase the value of a building. This study shows that smart building concept requires higher initial cost, but produces lower operational and maintenance costs. Furthermore, it also confirms that benefit-cost ratio on the smart building was much higher than a conventional building, that is 1.99 to 0.88.

Embodied energy of building materials and green building rating systems : a case study for industrial halls

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lee, B.; Trcka, M.; Hensen, J.L.M.

2011-01-01

Green building rating (GBR) systems are developed to provide independent assessment standards that evaluate in a few categories about the performance and sustainability of buildings. However, same category might weight differently in each of the GBR systems. A particular system might favor certain

Embodied energy of building materials and green building rating systems : a case study for industrial halls

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lee, B.; Trcka, M.; Hensen, J.L.M.

2010-01-01

Green Building Rating (GBR) systems are developed to provide independent assessment standards that evaluate in a few categories about the performance and sustainability of buildings. However, same category might weight differently in each of the GBR systems, which are different in objectives. A

76 FR 13617 - Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings (OFHPGB); Notice of GSA Bulletin OFHPGB 2011...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-14

...-Performance Green Buildings (OFHPGB); Notice of GSA Bulletin OFHPGB 2011-OGP-1 AGENCY: Office of.... Procedures Bulletins regarding the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Building are located on the... Washington, DC 20405 OFFICE OF FEDERAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE GREEN BUILDINGS GSA Bulletin 2011-OGP-1 TO: Heads of...

Dual certification for bank skyscrapers. A company headquarter gets a Green Building; Duale Zertifizierung fuer Bank-Tuerme. Eine Konzernzentrale wird zum Green Building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luft, Christian; Bauer, Michael [Drees und Sommer Advanced Building Technologies GmbH, Stuttgart (Germany)

2011-07-01

Fire protection regulations force the Deutsche Bank AG (Frankfurt/Main, Federal Republic of Germany) to extensive reorganization measures in order to continuously operate their buildings. As part of a complete renovation, Deutsche Bank AG has stipulated a modern, innovative and sustainable example. This is confirmed by the Green Building Certification with the US american label LEED registered in Platinum as well as the German sustainability certificate of the Germain Sustainable Building Council (Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany) in gold.

Green Roofs and Green Walls for Biodiversity Conservation: A Contribution to Urban Connectivity?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flavie Mayrand

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Green roofs and walls have recently emerged as conservation tools, and they offer promising additional opportunities to enhance biodiversity in cities. However, their ecological conditions remain poorly considered when planning wildlife corridors. To discuss the role of vegetated buildings in landscape connectivity, we reviewed the ecological and technical specificities of green walls and green roofs in light of the key factors concerning urban wildlife (patch size, quality, abundance, and isolation. Green roofs and walls show limited patch sizes, distinct habitat quality at the building scale, and limited redundancy of patch quality within the landscape. We also highlight that the abundance of roof and wall patches is often low. Future research is needed to establish if walls can be vertical corridors for wildlife, thereby reducing the isolation of green roofs. We argue that creating 3D ecological connectivity within the city requires substantial modifications of the design and maintenance of existing green building systems. We suggest that research is needed to integrate the biotic and abiotic characteristics of green buildings to make them more closely resemble those of open green spaces.

Standardization and Green Economic Change - the Case of Energy Efficiency in Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Maj Munch; Faria, Lourenco

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the role of standardization for green economic change using energy efficiency in buildings as a case. Innovation research on standards tends to focus on the competition between competing emerging standards as well as the economic impacts of these. The idea pursued here...... energy efficiency becomes an issue in standardization work using buildings as a case. The paper seeks more specifically to investigate the rise of building related standards generally over time as well as in different technical areas and geographic regions. The hypothesis pursued in this paper...... is that the rise of the green economy can only take place accompanied by considerable institution formation in the form of standards. In this sense, the presence of standards may be seen as an important indicator on the maturity of the greening of the economy. The paper presents early empirical work...

Building Energy and Cost Performance: An Analysis of Thirty Melbourne Case Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Lay Langston

2012-11-01

Full Text Available 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 analyzed to improve the understanding of both energy and cost performance over their full life cycle, which formed the basis of a wider doctoral study into the inherent relationship between energy and cost. The aim of this paper is to report on typical values for embodied energy, operating energy, capital cost and operating cost per square metre for a range of building functional types investigated in this research. The conclusion is that energy and cost have quite different profiles across projects, and yet the mean GJ/m2 or cost/m2 have relatively low coefficients of variation and therefore may be useful as benchmarks of typical building performance.  

Low Cost, Pump-fed, Non-Catalytic Thruster for Secondary Payload Green Propulsion, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Flight Works is proposing to expand its technology in micropump-fed propulsion, including 1U CubeSat green propulsion, to the development and demonstration of a low...

Appraisal of thermal premium in green building practice at urban scale. Methodological preview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonino Barbalace

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Research objective is to conceive, design and experiment a strategy at wide city scale to contribute facing the global ecological and energy crises of the Planet. This should be done through structural cut-down of fossil fuel consumption for settlements, i.e. by adopting the lowest cost energy: the not-consumed one! According to the Green Building Practices there are goals that can be achieved mainly through building passivation connected to: application of state-of-the-art sustainable technologies; alternative energy sources; diffusion of zero-mile decentralized solar energy production; fostering-up of solar feeding for summer air-conditioning, i.e. one of the most demanding energy consumers of the world. Owners, investors, contractors, occupants, tenants ask for more information and better quantification of energy saving magnitude in Green Buildings, as well as further appraisal of pay-back period i.e the length of time required for the return or re-payment of the additional larger initial investment. Research tries to conceive a methodology to assess in physical and monetary terms the energy saving and to define in financial terms the initial investment pay-back period at a reasonable rate. Proposed methodology has been tested in a first Case Study set-up at urban level and performed on a urban blocks of a Mediterranean medium size town including real world prototype yard, i.e. chantier, integrating passivation with the adoption of key frontier technologies such as sun chiller and solar cooling.

Research on the Selection Strategy of Green Building Parts Supplier Based on the Catastrophe Theory and Kent Index Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhenhua Luo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available At present, the green building and housing industrialization are two mainstream directions in the real estate industry. The production of green building parts which combines green building and housing industrialization, two concepts, is to be vigorously developed. The key of quality assurance in the assembly project is choosing reliable and proper green building parts suppliers. This paper analyzes the inherent requirements of the green building, combined with the characteristics of the housing industrialization, and puts forward an evaluation index system of supplier selection for green building parts, which includes product index, enterprise index, green development index, and cooperation ability index. To reduce the influence of subjective factors, the improved method which merges Kent index method and catastrophe theory is applied to the green building parts supplier selection and evaluation. This paper takes the selection of the unit bathroom suppliers as an example, uses the improved model to calculate and analyze the data of each supplier, and finally selects the optimal supplier. With combination of the Kent index and the catastrophe theory, the result shows that it can effectively reduce the subjectivity of the evaluation and provide a basis for the selection of the green building parts suppliers.

Low-cost phase change material as an energy storage medium in building envelopes: Experimental and numerical analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biswas, Kaushik; Abhari, Ramin

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Testing of a low-cost bio-PCM in an exterior wall under varying weather conditions. • Numerical model validation and annual simulations of PCM-enhanced cellulose insulation. • Reduced wall-generated cooling electricity consumption due to the application of PCM. • PCM performance was sensitive to its location and distribution within the wall. - Abstract: A promising approach to increasing the energy efficiency of buildings is the implementation of a phase change material (PCM) in the building envelope. Numerous studies over the last two decades have reported the energy saving potential of PCMs in building envelopes, but their wide application has been inhibited, in part, by their high cost. This article describes a novel PCM made of naturally occurring fatty acids/glycerides trapped into high density polyethylene (HDPE) pellets and its performance in a building envelope application. The PCM–HDPE pellets were mixed with cellulose insulation and then added to an exterior wall of a test building in a hot and humid climate, and tested over a period of several months. To demonstrate the efficacy of the PCM-enhanced cellulose insulation in reducing the building envelope heat gains and losses, a side-by-side comparison was performed with another wall section filled with cellulose-only insulation. Further, numerical modeling of the test wall was performed to determine the actual impact of the PCM–HDPE pellets on wall-generated heating and cooling loads and the associated electricity consumption. The model was first validated using experimental data and then used for annual simulations using typical meteorological year (TMY3) weather data. This article presents the experimental data and numerical analyses showing the energy-saving potential of the new PCM

Literature review on skills development frameworks for small and medium-sized contractors in the green building sector

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Dlungwana, Sihle

2018-01-01

Full Text Available on skills development frameworks for small and medium-sized contractors in the green building sector Sihle Dlungwana Senior Researcher, CSIR Built Environment Unit Introduction In 2011 the Department of Public Works adopted a Green Building... of their characteristics. Thematic analysis was used to analyse a number of articles in order to develop an appropriate framework for supporting future skills development programmes and tools for the green building sector. Defining a green contractor Generally...

The Teaching Green School Building: A Framework for Linking Architecture and Environmental Education

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Laura B.

2014-01-01

The "Teaching Green School Building" is an emergent type of school building that attempts to engage building users with environmental issues in buildings. Architectural interventions in these buildings range from signage to interactive touch screens to gardens and demonstration kitchens that foster educational programmes about…

Climate Change Mitigation through Energy Benchmarking in the GCC Green Buildings Codes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yousef Alhorr

2015-06-01

Full Text Available It is well known that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC of countries resides at or close to the top of the global table of CO2 emissions per capita and its economy relies heavily on its fossil fuels. This provides a context for green building programs that initially aim to create an understanding of emission pathways within the GCC and hence develop approaches to their reduction in the built environment. A set of criteria will allow specific analysis to be undertaken linked to the spatial dimensions of the sector under study. In this paper, approaches to modelling energy consumption and CO2 emissions are presented. As investment in the built environment continues, natural resources dwindle and the cost of energy increases, delivering low-energy buildings will become mandatory. In this study, a hybrid modelling approach (bottom-top & top-bottom is presented. Energy benchmarks are developed for different buildings’ uses and compared with international standards. The main goals are to establish design benchmarks and develop a modelling tool that contains specific information for all buildings types (existing and new, as well as planned and projected growths within the various city districts, then integrate this database within a geospatial information system that will allow us to answer a range of “what-if”-type questions about various intervention strategies, emissions savings, and acceptability of pre-defined course of actions in the city sector under consideration. The spatial carbon intensity may be adjusted over a certain period, (e.g., through local generation (microgeneration or due to an increasing proportion of lower carbon-energy in the generation mix and this can be related to the sector and city overall consumption.

Research on Green Construction Technology Applied at Guangzhou Hongding Building Project

Science.gov (United States)

Lou, Yong Zhong

2018-06-01

The green construction technology is the embodiment of sustainable development strategy in the construction industry, and it is a new construction mode which requires a higher environmental protection. Based on the Hongding building project, this paper describes the application and innovation of technical in the process of implementing green construction in the project, as well as the difficulties and characteristics in the specific practice; .The economic and social benefits of green construction are compared to the traditional construction model; .The achievements and experience of the green construction technology are summarized in the project; The ideas and methods in the process of implementing green construction are abstracted; some suggestions are put forward for the development of green construction.

City of Austin: Green habitat learning project. A green builder model home project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-12-01

The purpose of the Year 14 UCETF project was to design and construct a residential structure that could serve as a demonstration facility, training site, and testing and monitoring laboratory for issues related to the implementation of sustainable building practices and materials. The Model Home Project builds on the previous and existing efforts, partially funded by the UCETF, of the City of Austin Green Builder Program to incorporate sustainable building practices into mainstream building activities. The Green Builder Program uses the term {open_quotes}green{close_quotes} as a synonym for sustainability. In the research and analysis that was completed for our earlier reports in Years 12 and 13, we characterized specific elements that we associate with sustainability and, thus, green building. In general, we refer to a modified life cycle assessment to ascertain if {open_quotes}green{close_quotes} building options reflect similar positive cyclical patterns found in nature (i.e. recyclability, recycled content, renewable resources, etc.). We additionally consider economic, human health and synergistic ecological impacts associated with our building choices and characterize the best choices as {open_quotes}green.{close_quotes} Our ultimate goal is to identify and use those {open_quotes}green{close_quotes} materials and processes that provide well for us now and do not compromise similar benefits for future generations. The original partnership developed for this project shifted during the year from a project stressing advanced (many prototypical) {open_quotes}green{close_quotes} building materials and techniques in a research and demonstration context, to off-the-shelf but underutilized {open_quotes}green{close_quotes} materials in the practical social context of using {open_quotes}green{close_quotes} technologies for low income housing. That project, discussed in this report, is called the Green Habitat Learning Project.

A lignite-geothermal hybrid power and hydrogen production plant for green cities and sustainable buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kilkis, B. [Baskent University, Ankara (Turkey). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2011-02-15

Turkey is rich in both geothermal energy and lignite reserves, which in many cases, are co-located. This condition makes it feasible to utilize both lignite and geothermal energy in a hybrid form for combined power heat, and cold generation, which may lead to optimally energy and exergy efficient, environmentally benign, and economically sound applications. This paper presents a novel concept of hybrid lignite-geothermal plant for a district energy system and hydrogen production facility in Aydin with special emphasis on high performance, green buildings and green districts. In this concept, lignite is first introduced to a partially fluidized-bed gasifier and then to a fluidized-bed gas cleaning unit, which produces synthetic gas and finally hydrogen. The by-products, namely char and ash are used in a fluidized-bed combustor to produce power. Waste heat from all these steps are utilized in a district heating system along with heat received from geothermal production wells after power is generated there. H{sub 2}S gas obtained from the separator system is coupled with hydrogen production process at the lignite plant. Absorption cooling systems and thermal storage tanks complement the hybrid system for the tri-generation district energy system. On the demand side, the new, green OSTIM OSB administration building in Ankara is exemplified for greener, low-exergy buildings that will compound the environmental benefits.

Making the Case for Green Building: Cataloging the Benefits of Environmentally Responsible Design & Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Alex

2008-01-01

To those entrenched in the green building world, the benefits seem obvious. Why would anyone choose to build in a way that isn't comfortable, healthy, energy efficient, and environmentally responsible? Even within a single college or university project, different team members often have different reasons for promoting a green agenda. Architects…

Study on the Index System of Green Ecological Building and Its Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ying

2017-12-01

Based on the concept of sustainable development, green and ecology has become a hot topic in the development and research of many industries. It is not only a new culture, but also that art, technology, material and so on will change under the guidance of this kind of thought. Architecture is the main body of the city, and it also is the necessary component of the human survival and social developments, the basic function of the building is to provide people with living space. With the development of society, the architectural function is constantly enriched, the structure tends to be complicated, but the influence of its own problems is also expanding. The development of the construction industry requires a lot of resources, and in the process of using its function and it needs other energy to provide its due support, because in the past we only consider the building function, ignoring the energy and information consumption. Considering the current social development, we have to take the energy and resource issues into account, based on this condition, the green eco-building concept and technical standards is producing, and it changed people’s views on social development. Green eco-buildings also need to have indicators as a reference, while providing guidance of architectural design and construction. This paper gives a brief exposition of the research system of green ecological architecture and its evaluation.

Design and Implementation of Green Construction Scheme for a High-rise Residential Building Project

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yong; Huang, You Zhen

2018-06-01

This paper mainly studies the green construction scheme of a high-rise residential building project. From "four sections one environmental protection", saving material, water saving, energy saving, economical use of land and environmental protection conduct analysis and research. Adopting scientific, advanced, reasonable and economical construction technology measures, implementing green construction method. Promoting energy-saving technologies in buildings, ensuring the sustainable use of resources, Maximum savings of resources and energy, increase energy efficiency, to reduce pollution, reducing the adverse environmental impact of construction activities, ensure construction safety, build sustainable buildings.

Low profile, low cost, new geometry integrated inductors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ouyang, Ziwei; Thomsen, Ole Cornelius; Andersen, Michael A. E.

2011-01-01

windings with well-defined thickness. Many advantages and disadvantages are described in depth. In this work, inverse coupling and direct coupling in the new geometry integrated inductors have been analyzed. Coupling characteristic caused by a special saturation behavior has been emphasis. And also...... variable inductors caused by the special saturation behavior may be utilized in some applications. The new integrated inductors make it possible to build low-profile, low-cost, flexibility DC/DC converters, and it can be extensively designed for the low-voltage and high-current required by the modern...

Do Certified Buildings Enhance Indoor Environmental Quality and Performance of Office Work?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Da Silva, Nuno Alexandre Faria; Wargocki, Pawel

2014-01-01

With the growth of sustainability consciousness, the awareness of stakeholders for high performance buildings has also increased. The concept of green buildings has appeared. Several voluntary environmental rating schemes for buildings were created. Their focus has been energy conservation...... on productivity and that an average employee cost can be >10-100 times higher than the rental operation and maintenance costs (Morrell, 2005; Persramet al., 2007). There is however lack of consistent and systematic data benchmarking benefits of green building, in particular as regards IEQ and the effects...... (Lee, 2011), the green building do not have to necessarily meet this postulation. Quite limited numbers of credits for enhancing IEQ offered by the schemes will certainly not very much help that the high IEQ is guaranteed. The present paper surveyed literature on green buildings to examine whether...

Indoor air quality in green buildings: A case-study in a residential high-rise building in the northeastern United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Youyou; Krogmann, Uta; Mainelis, Gediminas; Rodenburg, Lisa A; Andrews, Clinton J

2015-01-01

Improved indoor air quality (IAQ) is one of the critical components of green building design. Green building tax credit (e.g., New York State Green Building Tax Credit (GBTC)) and certification programs (e.g., Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)) require indoor air quality measures and compliance with allowable maximum concentrations of common indoor air pollutants. It is not yet entirely clear whether compliance with these programs results in improved IAQ and ultimately human health. As a case in point, annual indoor air quality measurements were conducted in a residential green high-rise building for five consecutive years by an industrial hygiene contractor to comply with the building's GBTC requirements. The implementation of green design measures resulted in better IAQ compared to data in references of conventional homes for some parameters, but could not be confirmed for others. Relative humidity and carbon dioxide were satisfactory according to existing standards. Formaldehyde levels during four out of five years were below the most recent proposed exposure limits found in the literature. To some degree, particulate matter (PM) levels were lower than that in studies from conventional residential buildings. Concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) with known permissible exposure limits were below levels known to cause chronic health effects, but their concentrations were inconclusive regarding cancer health effects due to relatively high detection limits. Although measured indoor air parameters met all IAQ maximum allowable concentrations in GBTC and applicable LEED requirements at the time of sampling, we argue that these measurements were not sufficient to assess IAQ comprehensively because more sensitive sampling/analytical methods for PM and VOCs are needed; in addition, there is a need for a formal process to ensure rigor and adequacy of sampling and analysis methods. Also, we suggest that a comprehensive IAQ assessment should

Green Infrastructure Siting and Cost Effectiveness Analysis

Data.gov (United States)

Allegheny County / City of Pittsburgh / Western PA Regional Data Center — Parcel scale green infrastructure siting and cost effectiveness analysis. You can find more details at the project's website.

Probabilistic economic analysis of green roof benefits for policy design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, C.; Adriaens, P.; Talbot, B.

2006-01-01

The installation costs of green roofs continue to deter widespread use of green roof technology. Analyses of the boundary conditions for the cost differential between a green roof and a conventional roof are usually compared to environmental benefits such as storm water reduction and building energy savings. However, evidence is emerging that green roofs may play a role in urban air quality improvement. This paper discussed a methodology for developing probabilistic ranges of benefits and cost analyses. A probabilistic analysis was conducted to prepare a generalized cost-benefit analysis for application to a range of green roof projects. Environmental benefits of roof greening were quantified on a per unit surface area to assess environmental impact at the building scale. Parameters included conventional and green roof installation costs; storm water fees and fee reductions for green roofs; energy costs due to heat flux and the resultant savings through the installation of a green roof and the additional economic valuation of the public health benefits due to air pollution mitigation. Results were then integrated into an economic model to determine the length of time required for a return on investment in a green roof, assuming that a traditional roof would require replacement after 20 years. A net present value analysis was performed for an average-sized university roof. Results of the study showed that a valuation of environmental benefits can reduce the time required for a return on investment in a moderately priced green roof. While reduced installation costs reduced the time required for a return on investment, optimizing the green roof system for maximum environmental benefit had a greater potential to provide a higher return. It was concluded that the benefit of improved air quality should not be ignored by green roof policy-makers as a valuation tool. 10 refs., 3 tabs., 1 fig

Are green building features safe for preventive maintenance workers? Examining the evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Omar, Mohamed Shamun; Quinn, Margaret M; Buchholz, Bryan; Geiser, Ken

2013-04-01

Many newly constructed green buildings (GB) are certified using the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for new construction and major renovation which focuses on architectural and mechanical design to conserve energy, reduce environmental harm, and enhance indoor quality for occupants. This study evaluated the preventive maintenance (PM) worker occupational safety and health (OSH) risks related to the design of GB. PM job hazard analyses (JHA) were performed on the tasks required to operate and maintain five GB features selected from 13 LEED certified GB. A 22-item JHA and OSH risk scoring system were developed. Potentially serious OSH hazards included: green roofs made of slippery material without fall protection; energy recovery wheels and storm water harvesting systems in confined spaces; skylights without guard rails; and tight geothermal well mechanical rooms constraining safe preventive practices. GB can present PM OSH risks and these should be eliminated in the building design phase. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Building Effective Green Energy Programs in Community Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Bozell, Maureen R.; Liston, Cynthia D.

2010-01-01

Community colleges across the country are engaged in large-scale federal and state initiatives to train low-income individuals for the nascent field that's become known as "green jobs." Many green economy advocates believe that green jobs training can be part of career pathways that help move unemployed and disconnected individuals--who are often…

Airborne Particulate Matter in Two Multi-Family Green Buildings: Concentrations and Effect of Ventilation and Occupant Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Patton, Allison P; Calderon, Leonardo; Xiong, Youyou; Wang, Zuocheng; Senick, Jennifer; Sorensen Allacci, MaryAnn; Plotnik, Deborah; Wener, Richard; Andrews, Clinton J; Krogmann, Uta; Mainelis, Gediminas

2016-01-20

There are limited data on air quality parameters, including airborne particulate matter (PM) in residential green buildings, which are increasing in prevalence. Exposure to PM is associated with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, and since Americans spend almost 90% of their time indoors, residential exposures may substantially contribute to overall airborne PM exposure. Our objectives were to: (1) measure various PM fractions longitudinally in apartments in multi-family green buildings with natural (Building E) and mechanical (Building L) ventilation; (2) compare indoor and outdoor PM mass concentrations and their ratios (I/O) in these buildings, taking into account the effects of occupant behavior; and (3) evaluate the effect of green building designs and operations on indoor PM. We evaluated effects of ventilation, occupant behaviors, and overall building design on PM mass concentrations and I/O. Median PMTOTAL was higher in Building E (56 µg/m³) than in Building L (37 µg/m³); I/O was higher in Building E (1.3-2.0) than in Building L (0.5-0.8) for all particle size fractions. Our data show that the building design and occupant behaviors that either produce or dilute indoor PM (e.g., ventilation systems, combustion sources, and window operation) are important factors affecting residents' exposure to PM in residential green buildings.

Integrating Green Building Criteria Into Housing Design Processes Case Study: Tropical Apartment At Kebon Melati, Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Farid, V. L.; Wonorahardjo, S.

2018-05-01

The implementation of Green Building criteria is relatively new in architectural practice, especially in Indonesia. Consequently, the integration of these criteria into design process has the potential to change the design process itself. The implementation of the green building criteria into the conventional design process will be discussed in this paper. The concept of this project is to design a residential unit with a natural air-conditioning system. To achieve this purpose, the Green Building criteria has been implemented since the beginning of the design process until the detailing process on the end of the project. Several studies was performed throughout the design process, such as: (1) Conceptual review, where several professionally proved theories related to Tropical Architecture and passive design are used for a reference, and (2) Computer simulations, such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel simulation, used to represent the dynamic response of the surrounding environment towards the building. Hopefully this paper may become a reference for designing a green residential building.

Low-energy district heating in energy-efficient building areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalla Rosa, A.; Christensen, J.E.

2011-01-01

This paper presents an innovative low-energy district heating (DH) concept based on low-temperature operation. The decreased heating demand from low-energy buildings affects the cost-effectiveness of traditionally-designed DH systems, so we carried out a case study of the annual energy performance of a low-energy network for low-energy houses in Denmark. We took into account the effect of human behaviour on energy demand, the effect of the number of buildings connected to the network, a socio-economic comparison with ground source heat pumps, and opportunities for the optimization of the network design, and operational temperature and pressure. In the north-European climate, we found that human behaviour can lead to 50% higher heating demand and 60% higher heating power than those anticipated in the reference values in the standard calculations for energy demand patterns in energy-efficient buildings. This considerable impact of human behaviour should clearly be included in energy simulations. We also showed that low-energy DH systems are robust systems that ensure security of supply for each customer in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way in areas with linear heat density down to 0.20 MWh/(m year), and that the levelized cost of energy in low-energy DH supply is competitive with a scenario based on ground source heat pumps. The investment costs represent up to three quarters of the overall expenditure, over a time horizon of 30 years; so, the implementation of an energy system that fully relies on renewable energy needs substantial capital investment, but in the long term this is sustainable from the environmental and socio-economic points of view. Having demonstrated the value of the low-energy DH concept, we evaluated various possible designs with the aim of finding the optimal solution with regard to economic and energy efficiency issues. Here we showed the advantage of low supply and return temperatures, their effect on energy efficiency and that

The green building envelope : Vertical greening

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ottelé, M.

2011-01-01

Planting on roofs and façades is one of the most innovative and fastest developing fields of green technologies with respect to the built environment and horticulture. This thesis is focused on vertical greening of structures and to the multi-scale benefits of vegetation. Vertical green can improve

Green Building Policy Options for New Orleans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doris, E.

2011-09-01

This document is adapted from a memo and report delivered to the City Council of New Orleans, the office of the Mayor of New Orleans, the Chairperson of the Citizen Stakeholders Group (New Orleans Energy Task Force) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Project Officer in 2008. The report outlines ideas for and potential impacts of various green building policies in New Orleans in the years following Hurricane Katrina.

Occupational safety and health issues associated with green building

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Terwoert, J.; Ustailieva, E.

2013-01-01

This e-fact provides information on the work-related risk factors and the occupational safety and health (OSH) issues associated the planning and construction of green buildings, their maintenance, renovation (retrofitting), demolition, on-site waste collection. Some of these OSH risks are new

Life cycle cost optimization of buildings with regard to energy use, thermal indoor environment and daylight

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Toke Rammer; Svendsen, Svend

2002-01-01

by the life cycle cost taking all expenses in the buildings service life into consideration. Also the performance of buildings is important as the performance influences the comfort of the occupants, heating demand etc. Different performance requirements are stated in building codes, standards......Buildings represent a large economical investment and have long service lives through which expenses for heating, cooling, maintenance and replacement depends on the chosen building design. Therefore, the building cost should not only be evaluated by the initial investment cost but rather...... and by the customer. The influence of different design variables on life cycle cost and building performance is very complicated and the design variables can be combined in an almost unlimited number of ways. Optimization can be applied to achieve a building design with low life cycle cost and good performance...

Green Buildings in Singapore : Analyzing a Frontrunner’s Sectoral Innovation System

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Siva, Vidushini; Hoppe, Thomas; Jain, Mansi

2017-01-01

The building sector in Singapore consumes up to half of the nation’s total energy. The government has therefore been urging the transformation of the industry by targeting 80% of all buildings to be green-certified by 2030. Thus far, Singapore has done relatively well, and is widely viewed as

Building Green: Construction for the 21st Century

Science.gov (United States)

Phillipson, Todd

2012-01-01

At Jefferson County Vocational School (JCVS) in Bloomingdale, Ohio, students get a lesson on building green with the construction of a home in the school's subdivision. The home is being built using Energy Star guidelines so that it may be identified as an Energy Star home. The goal for the Jefferson County Vocational Schools Board of Education…

Airborne Particulate Matter in Two Multi-Family Green Buildings: Concentrations and Effect of Ventilation and Occupant Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allison P. Patton

2016-01-01

Full Text Available There are limited data on air quality parameters, including airborne particulate matter (PM in residential green buildings, which are increasing in prevalence. Exposure to PM is associated with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, and since Americans spend almost 90% of their time indoors, residential exposures may substantially contribute to overall airborne PM exposure. Our objectives were to: (1 measure various PM fractions longitudinally in apartments in multi-family green buildings with natural (Building E and mechanical (Building L ventilation; (2 compare indoor and outdoor PM mass concentrations and their ratios (I/O in these buildings, taking into account the effects of occupant behavior; and (3 evaluate the effect of green building designs and operations on indoor PM. We evaluated effects of ventilation, occupant behaviors, and overall building design on PM mass concentrations and I/O. Median PMTOTAL was higher in Building E (56 µg/m3 than in Building L (37 µg/m3; I/O was higher in Building E (1.3–2.0 than in Building L (0.5–0.8 for all particle size fractions. Our data show that the building design and occupant behaviors that either produce or dilute indoor PM (e.g., ventilation systems, combustion sources, and window operation are important factors affecting residents’ exposure to PM in residential green buildings.

Fast Removal of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers from Aqueous Solutions by Using Low-Cost Adsorbents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renin Chang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available 4-Dibromodiphenyl ether (BDE-3 and 4,4′-dibromodiphenyl ether (BDE-15 are two of the major polybrominated diphenyl ethers used as flame-retardant additives in computer main boards and in fireproof building materials. In this study, we evaluated the potential of three low-cost adsorbents, black tea, green tea, and coconut palm leaf powders, to adsorb BDE-3 and BDE-15 from aqueous solutions. The results showed that pressure steam washing of the adsorbents increased their capacities to adsorb BDE-3 and BDE-15. The maximum adsorption capacities of pressure steam–washed black tea, green tea, and coconut palm leaf powders were 21.85 mg·L−1, 14.56 mg·L−1 and 22.47 mg·L−1, respectively. The results also showed that the adsorption equilibrium (qe was achieved at 4 min. Moreover, 97.8% of BDE-3 and 98.5% of BDE-15 could be removed by adsorbents pretreated with pressure steam washing. The kinetic data fitted well with a pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption rate constants (k2 of all pressure steam–washed adsorbents ranged from 8.16 × 10−3 to 6.61 × 10−2 g·(mg·L−1−1·s−1, and the amount adsorbed at qe by all pressure steam–washed adsorbents ranged from 4.21 to 4.78 mg·L−1. Green alga Chlorella vulgaris was used as the test organism and the median effective concentration values of BDE-3 and BDE-15 were 7.24 and 3.88 mg·L−1, respectively. After BDE-3 and BDE-15 were removed from the solution, their biotoxicities markedly decreased. These findings indicate that these low-cost adsorbents can be used to remove BDE-3 and BDE-15 from aqueous solutions and wastewater.

Healthy Buildings and Green Building Rating Systems; Gezond bouwen en duurzaamheidslabels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bergs, J.; Renes, S. [BenR Adviseurs voor duurzaamheid, Amersfoort (Netherlands)

2010-11-15

The awareness of health issues related to buildings has heightened past decades. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) has been addressed in most Green Building Rating Systems nowadays. This article analyses the scope of IEQ (Indoor Environmental Quality) within Rating Systems GPR Gebouw, BREEAM-NL (Dutch version of Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Each Rating System allocates health aspects. However, none of these Rating Systems addresses a complete set of relevant aspects. High ratings do not guarantee healthy buildings. It is concluded that, in general, credits for energy efficiency do not interfere with credits for enhanced indoor environmental quality. [Dutch] Gezondheidsaspecten van gebouwen hebben afgelopen decennia steeds meer en integraler aandacht gekregen. In de instrumenten GPR Gebouw, BREEAM-NL (Nederlandse versien van 'Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method') en LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is gezondheid 1 van de duurzaamheidsthema's, in dit artikel wordt geconcludeerd dat deze instrumenten veel gezondheidsaspecten dekken maar dat geen enkel instrument echt volledig is. De 1 legt meer accent op gezondheid, de ander meer op comfort. Een hoog label biedt geen garantie voor een gezond gebouw. De instrumenten bevatten weinig potentieel strijdige aspecten. Gezond en energiezuinig bouwen gaan volgens deze instrumenten goed samen.

Bacillus megaterium mediated mineralization of calcium carbonate as biogenic surface treatment of green building materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhami, Navdeep Kaur; Reddy, M Sudhakara; Mukherjee, Abhijit

2013-12-01

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation is a biomineralization process that has various applications in remediation and restoration of range of building materials. In the present study, calcifying bacteria, Bacillus megaterium SS3 isolated from calcareous soil was applied as biosealant to enhance the durability of low energy, green building materials (soil-cement blocks). This bacterial isolate produced high amounts of urease, carbonic anhydrase, extra polymeric substances and biofilm. The calcium carbonate polymorphs produced by B. megaterium SS3 were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transmission infra red spectroscopy. These results suggested that calcite is the most predominant carbonate formed by this bacteria followed by vaterite. Application of B. megaterium SS3 as biogenic surface treatment led to 40 % decrease in water absorption, 31 % decrease in porosity and 18 % increase in compressive strength of low energy building materials. From the present investigation, it is clear that surface treatment of building materials by B. megaterium SS3 is very effective and eco friendly way of biodeposition of coherent carbonates that enhances the durability of building materials.

Low-cost NORM concentrations measuring technique for building materials of Uzbekistan

Science.gov (United States)

Safarov, Akmal; Safarov, Askar; Azimov, Askarali; Darby, Iain G.

2016-04-01

Concentrations of natural radionuclides of building materials are important in order to estimate exposure of humans to radiation, who can spend up to 80% of their time indoors. One of the indicators of building materials' safety is the radium equivalent activity, which is regulated by national and international normative documents [1,2,3]. Materials with Ra(eq) =stone, red sand, granite, white marble and concrete cubes was performed both before and after ageing of samples (10, 20, 30 and 40 days). Measurement times of samples were 1, 3, 6 and 12 hours. Samples were measured in 1 liter Marinelli beaker geometry, using NaI(Tl) spectrometers with crystal sizes 2.5 x 2.5 in and 3.1 x 3.1 in. Efficiency calibration of spectrometers was done using certified volumetric (1 liter Marinelli beaker) Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 sources filled with silica sand and density 1,7 kg/l. Herein we present results indicating that one hour measuring may be sufficient for samples in 1 liter Marinelli beakers offering prospect of significant time and cost improvements. References: 1. NEA-OECD (1979): Exposure to radiation from natural radioactivity in building materials. Report by Group of Experts of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Paris 2. STUK (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority) (2003): The radioactivity of building materials and ash. Regulatory Guides on Radiation Safety (ST Guides) ST 12.2 (Finland) (8 October 2003) 3. GOST 30108-94 (1995): Building materials and elements. Determination of specific activity of natural radioactive nuclei. Interstate Standard. 4. Krisiuk E.M. et al., (1971). A study on Radioactivity in Building Materials (Leningrad: Research Institute for radiation Hygiene) 5. Beretka, J., & Mathew, P. J. (1985). Natural radioactivity of Australian building materials, waste and by-products. Health Physics, 48, 87-95. 6. Uosif M.A.M. (2014). Estimation of Radiological Hazards of Some Egyptian Building Materials Due to Natural Radioactivity. International Journal

78 FR 8145 - Sequence 24 Findings of the EISA 436(h) Ad-Hoc Review Group on Green Building Certification Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-05

... EISA 436(h) Ad-Hoc Review Group on Green Building Certification Systems AGENCY: Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Office of Government-wide Policy, General Services Administration. ACTION... Secretary of Energy that identifies a green building certification system(s) most likely to encourage a...

Cost-derived indices for building design and construction ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Also as multiples of gfi, substructure cost index, sci and roofing cost index, rci could predict componental costs of substructure and roofing for phased development purposes. Keywords: Cost Indices, Building Design, Building Construction Journal of Modeling, Design and Management of Engineering Systems, Vol.

Low Cost Night Vision System for Intruder Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Liang S.; Yusoff, Wan Azhar Wan; R, Dhinesh; Sak, J. S.

2016-02-01

The growth in production of Android devices has resulted in greater functionalities as well as lower costs. This has made previously more expensive systems such as night vision affordable for more businesses and end users. We designed and implemented robust and low cost night vision systems based on red-green-blue (RGB) colour histogram for a static camera as well as a camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), using OpenCV library on Intel compatible notebook computers, running Ubuntu Linux operating system, with less than 8GB of RAM. They were tested against human intruders under low light conditions (indoor, outdoor, night time) and were shown to have successfully detected the intruders.

Exploring Socio-Technical Features of Green Interior Design of Residential Buildings: Indicators, Interdependence and Embeddedness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Ning

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This research aims to develop indicators for assessing green interior design of new residential buildings in China, grounded in the socio-technical systems approach. The research was carried out through a critical literature review and two focus group studies. The results show that the boundaries of green interior design were identified with respect to three dimensions, namely performance, methodology and stakeholders. The socio-technical systems approach argues for the recognition of the interdependence between the systems elements and the feature of embeddedness. The interdependence of the systems elements exists within each of these three dimensions and across them. It is also found that the socio-technical systems of green interior design are embedded in the social, regulatory and geographic context. Taking interior design of residential buildings as the empirical setting, this study contributes to the literature of green building assessment by presenting a socio-technical systems approach.

The cost risk implementation on design-build project of integrated public spaces child friendly in capital of Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Mardiaman, Mubarok, Abdul

2017-11-01

Jakarta area of 662.33 km2 with a population of 10,075,030 inhabitants and green open spaces 9.98%. The Jakarta government built a child-friendly integrated open space as facilities for playing. Providing of facilities was hoped suitable with time, cost, quality, accountability and proper financial governance. Based on the PU ministerial regulation number 19/PRT/M/2015 on the standards and guidelines for procurement the design and construction work on the integrated build and the PU ministerial regulation No. 07/PRT/M/2011 on standards and guidelines for procurement of construction works and consulting services of public works and the ministry of housing. RPTRA development at 123 locations in Jakarta was implemented base on the contract of design and build. The design study was influenced by the cost elements; the main strength (expert), skilled personnel, support personnel, major equipment and support. The construction fee relies on; expert implementation, hardware implementation, preparation work, land, buildings, courtyards, fences, complementary and governance capabilities for human resources in completing the construction activities to minimize the cost risk. Montecarlo simulations was conducted to determine the average unit price, model and analyze systems. In the cost contract, the percentage of design work stipulated 2.5%, build 97.5%. Base on regulation the minister of public work for design work cost 2.72%, build 97.28%. Then, actual cost for design 2.67% and build 97.33%. From the three reference was shown that there are differentiation one another. The acceleration of planning able to make the cost and time more efficient that impact on the implementation margin.

Analysis on Occupants’ Satisfaction for Safety Performance Assessment in Low Cost Housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Husin Husrul Nizam

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The delivery performance of the low cost housing is questioned since the occupants are prone towards safety hazards in the housing complex, such as structural instability and falling building fragments. Without defining the occupants’ requirements for the development of low cost housing, the prevailing safety factors are hard to be determined. This paper explores the rationale of safety performance assessment in the low cost housing by considering the occupants’ participation to achieve a better safety provision during occupancy period. Questionnaire survey was distributed to 380 occupants of the low cost housing in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. The result shows that 80.8% of the respondents had expressed their dissatisfaction with the safety performance of the lift. By referring to the mode of ranking level, the most significant aspect rated by the respondents is Building Safety Features, with 51.6% respondents. The attained aspects can be fundamental parameters which can be considered in the future development of low cost housing.

Analysis of Potential Benefits and Costs of Adopting a Commercial Building Energy Standard in South Dakota

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belzer, David B.; Cort, Katherine A.; Winiarski, David W.; Richman, Eric E.

2005-03-04

The state of South Dakota is considering adopting a commercial building energy standard. This report evaluates the potential costs and benefits to South Dakota residents from requiring compliance with the most recent edition of the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1-2001 Energy Standard for Buildings except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. These standards were developed in an effort to set minimum requirements for the energy efficient design and construction of new commercial buildings. The quantitative benefits and costs of adopting a commercial building energy code are modeled by comparing the characteristics of assumed current building practices with the most recent edition of the ASHRAE Standard, 90.1-2001. Both qualitative and quantitative benefits and costs are assessed in this analysis. Energy and economic impacts are estimated using results from a detailed building simulation tool (Building Loads Analysis and System Thermodynamics [BLAST] model) combined with a Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) approach to assess corresponding economic costs and benefits.

Investigation on Smoke Movement and Smoke Control for Atrium in Green and Sustainable Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fang, Lui; Nielsen, Peter V.; Brohus, Henrik

The concepts of green buildings and sustainable buildings are promoted actively in the developed countries. Targets are on protecting the environment, using less energy through natural ventilation provisions and daylight utilization, developing better waste management and taking resource...... design in the green or sustainable buildings with an atrium. Since the physics of air entrainment is not yet clearly understood, most of the fire plume expressions reported in the literature was derived empirically. Experiments and CFD simulation were used to study the different types of thermal plumes...... conservation into account. Architectural and building design, electrical and mechanical systems, and building management have to be upgraded. However, there are problems in dealing with fire safety, especially in complying with the existing prescriptive fire codes. A hot argument is that smoke control system...

Measuring the influence of the greening design of the building environment on the urban real estate market in Taiwan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Kuei-Feng [Department of Real Estate Management, National Pingtung Institute of Commerce (China); Chou, Po-Cheng [Department of Interior Design, Shu-Te University, Kaohsiung County (China)

2010-10-15

To address the worsening problems of global warming and the urban heat island effect, ecological cities and building environment greening are being promoted in population-dense urban areas domestically and abroad. For example, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism announced the CASBEE-HI (Heat Island) assessment system in 2008 as a response to worsening urban warming and urban heat island effects. The Ministry implemented ''Building Space Greening Plans'' in Tokyo, Osaka, and other cities, enforcing by law the effective reduction of urban temperatures and improving urban living environments and alleviating the threat of urban ecological disasters. Therefore, this study integrates Taiwan domestic and foreign building space greening design, derived greening benefits, implementation promotion methods, and greening design policies as measurement constructs to examine the mutual influence between different constructs and to analyze the degree of influence on the urban real estate market. From the result, demonstrating that building space environment greening design does bring about positive benefits. In addition, the greening benefit was shown to have a positive impact on the urban real estate market. At the same time, greening promotion implementation method and urban policy standard both had a positive impact on the urban real estate market, demonstrating that government promotion of building environment greening design through urban design policy means is acceptable to the public. (author)

Optimized design and control of an off grid solar PV/hydrogen fuel cell power system for green buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Ghenai, C.; Bettayeb, M.

2017-11-01

Modelling, simulation, optimization and control strategies are used in this study to design a stand-alone solar PV/Fuel Cell/Battery/Generator hybrid power system to serve the electrical load of a commercial building. The main objective is to design an off grid energy system to meet the desired electric load of the commercial building with high renewable fraction, low emissions and low cost of energy. The goal is to manage the energy consumption of the building, reduce the associate cost and to switch from grid-tied fossil fuel power system to an off grid renewable and cleaner power system. Energy audit was performed in this study to determine the energy consumption of the building. Hourly simulations, modelling and optimization were performed to determine the performance and cost of the hybrid power configurations using different control strategies. The results show that the hybrid off grid solar PV/Fuel Cell/Generator/Battery/Inverter power system offers the best performance for the tested system architectures. From the total energy generated from the off grid hybrid power system, 73% is produced from the solar PV, 24% from the fuel cell and 3% from the backup Diesel generator. The produced power is used to meet all the AC load of the building without power shortage (system produces 18.2% excess power that can be used to serve the thermal load of the building. The proposed hybrid power system is sustainable, economically viable and environmentally friendly: High renewable fraction (66.1%), low levelized cost of energy (92 /MWh), and low carbon dioxide emissions (24 kg CO2/MWh) are achieved.

Towards green buildings: Glass as a building element-the use and misuse in the gulf region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aboulnaga, Mohsen M. [College of Design and Applied Arts, Dubai University College, Dubai P.O. Box 14143 (United Arab Emirates)

2006-04-15

The recent economic growth in the Gulf region notably in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has led to a colossal number of buildings that has been constructed in the past 5 years. In the last decade, a total glazed building's facades became the icon of Dubai. This large area of glazing in each facade needs protection against overheating and sun glare in summer. According to leader in energy and environmental design (LEED) glass selection becomes a main element in this equation to contribute towards achieving a green building. The aim of this paper is to investigate the problems associated with misuse of glass, as a building element in UAE particularly in Dubai. Inadequate design with ill-selected glass/glazing type may lead not only to poor daylighting in building interiors but also contribute significantly to fatigue, insomnia, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and above all increase CO{sub 2} emission. The purpose of the study is to specify the required improvements to permit natural, 'free' daylight to filter through the building facade into interior space, especially with the right type of glass. This paper examines the status of buildings in Dubai in terms of glass type, visible light transmittance, reflection (out/in) and relative heat gain. A quantitative analysis is conducted to assess the impact of glass on the building users' performance in terms of daylight environment. A recent built high-rise office building was selected in the investigation to asses whether selected glass provide the recommended daylight factor (DF) and daylight level (DL) according to IES standards. The results revealed that most the glass/glazing was misused in 70% of buildings in intermediate and low performance groups. The DF and DD in the selected office building were unexpectedly tremendous and found far beyond the recommended level due to the use of spectrally selective glazing (clear on both sides). [Author].

Linoleum: a 'green' flooring option

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon

2002-07-01

'Green' building materials may be defined as being made of materials and by processes that have low impact on the environment. Linoleum is an example of a sustainable 'green' building material. It is durable, easy to repair, is inherently antimicrobial, and has low-cost maintenance. Unlike most other floor coverings, linoleum has naturally occurring anti-static properties, making it easy to clean, since dust and dirt will not adhere to it. The ingredients in linoleum are linseed oil, resin, limestone, wood flour, pigments and jute, all obtainable from natural sources. Vibrant colours for the flooring are created by using organic pigments with no heavy metals such as lead or calcium which, consequently, pose no threat to the environment. Linoleum is also biodegradable. It can be put into a landfill, where it will decompose; in some parts of the world it is incinerated to produce electricity. When used as feedstock for electricity, used linoleum products have an energy content of 18.6 MJ/kg, which is equivalent to coal. As no toxic or corrosive gases are released, the need for gas purification is avoided.

76 FR 64931 - Building Energy Codes Cost Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-19

...-0046] Building Energy Codes Cost Analysis AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy... reopening of the time period for submitting comments on the request for information on Building Energy Codes... the request for information on Building Energy Code Cost Analysis and provide docket number EERE-2011...

Cost analysis of LEED certified United States navy buildings

OpenAIRE

Kirar, Carl V.

2011-01-01

CIVINS (Civilian Institutions) Thesis document A study was completed at UW-Madison in 2010 that reviewed the energy consumption of US Navy buildings which earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The research compared LEED certified buildings to a commercial counterpart within the US Navy inventory against Executive Order (EO) 13423. The EO mandated that all federal agencies meet a 30 percent reduction of...

Life Cycle Cost optimization of a BOLIG+ Zero Energy Building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marszal, A.J.

2011-12-15

-connected ZEBs - Net ZEBs, and the annual primary energy balance. The Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis conducted with a study case of a multi-storey residential Net ZEB aimed to determine the cost-optimal ''zero'' energy balance, minimum energy performance requirements and options of supplying renewable energy. The calculation encompassed three levels of energy frames, which mirrored the Danish low-energy building classes included in the current building code, and ten renewable energy supply systems including both on-site and off-site options. The results indicated that although the off-site options have lower life cycle costs than the on-site alternatives, their application would promote renewable technologies over energy efficiency measures. Thus, they oppose the Danish plans to gradually make the energy performance requirements stricter. Moreover, the results showed that district heating is a less cost-attractive solution than a ground source heat pump for a private building owner. Finally, with 2010-level of energy prices, cost-optimal ''zero'' energy balance accounts only for the building related energy use. (Author)

Factors Affecting Green Residential Building Development: Social Network Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaodong Yang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Green residential buildings (GRBs are one of the effective practices of energy saving and emission reduction in the construction industry. However, many real estate developers in China are less willing to develop GRBs, because of the factors affecting green residential building development (GRBD. In order to promote the sustainable development of GRBs in China, this paper, based on the perspective of real estate developers, identifies the influential and critical factors affecting GRBD, using the method of social network analysis (SNA. Firstly, 14 factors affecting GRBD are determined from 64 preliminary factors of three main elements, and the framework is established. Secondly, the relationships between the 14 factors are analyzed by SNA. Finally, four critical factors for GRBD, which are on the local economy development level, development strategy and innovation orientation, developer’s acknowledgement and positioning for GRBD, and experience and ability for GRBD, are identified by the social network centrality test. The findings illustrate the key issues that affect the development of GRBs, and provide references for policy making by the government and strategy formulation by real estate developers.

Thermal damping effect due to a green barrier which includes Arundo donax as bioclimatic element in buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Rodríguez-Salinas

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Among the main environmental impacts of the operation of residential buildings are those due to greenhouse gases generation as a result of electric consumption of air conditioning systems. The use of vegetation systems in residential buildings represents an alternative to reduce this energy consumption. Green vegetation systems barriers are often used as protection against winds, but recently they are also being used as acoustic dampers. This work explores their use as thermal insulation systems for buildings. Specifically, we report the behavior of an Arundo donax green barrier as a bioclimatic element. The results are analyzed based on indoor and outdoor temperature measurement in prototype buildings, in function of the green barrier presence. Additionally Arundo donax transpiration under extreme environmental conditions was determined.

Implementation green and low cost on landscape design of Manggarai Integrated Station, Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Suryanti, T.; Meilianti, H.

2018-01-01

The Manggarai Integrated Station is the transit of various transportation modes. The Integrated Station located in Manggarai Jakarta and managed by PT. KAI. The Manggarai station is integrated and have terminal nature of transit areas (switching mode of transportation). There are several problems in the site, such as the problem of the site conditions in the urban area, topography, soil, vegetation, space, visual, users on the site can provide ideas for the concepts. The data was analyzed using the quantitative descriptive methode. The purpose of this research is to design the integrated station atmosphere, not only can support of the activities station users, but can also accommodate the needs of the community. It will “Green, Low cost” at the Manggarai integrated transport transit station in Jakarta. The potential that exists in this area is the lowliest integrated from various areas of the mode of transportation that make the users to facilitate transit transportation to the other. The basic concept of this design refers to the “Green, Low Cost” which unite with theme “user friendly” land use on a more efficient and effective site. The result of this research is landscape design development of Manggarai integrated station. Its consists of landscape design in west and east area, transition area, parking area, solar panel area, and social interaction area.

Back home after an acquired brain injury: building a "low-cost" team to provide theory-driven cognitive rehabilitation after routine interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Pierini, Davide; Hoerold, Doreen

2014-01-01

Individuals with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) could benefit from further cognitive rehabilitation, after they have returned home. However, a lack of specialist services to provide such rehabilitation often prevents this. This leads to reduced reintegration of patients, increased social disadvantages and ultimately, higher economic costs. 10 months post-stroke, a 69 year-old woman was discharged from an inpatient rehabilitation program and returned home with severe cognitive impairments. We describe a pilot project which provided an individualised, low cost rehabilitation program, supervised and trained by a neuropsychologist. Progress was monitored every 3 months in order to decide on continuation of the program, based on the achieved results and predicted costs. Post intervention, despite severe initial impairment, cognitive and most notably daily functioning had improved. Although the financial investment was moderately high for the family, the intervention was still considered cost-effective when compared with the required costs of care in a local non-specialist care home. Moreover, the pilot experience was used to build a "local expert team" available for other individuals requiring rehabilitation. These results encourage the development of similar local "low cost" teams in the community, to provide scientifically-grounded cognitive rehabilitation for ABI patients returning home.

Evaluation of three common green building materials for ozone removal, and primary and secondary emissions of aldehydes

Science.gov (United States)

Gall, Elliott; Darling, Erin; Siegel, Jeffrey A.; Morrison, Glenn C.; Corsi, Richard L.

2013-10-01

Ozone reactions that occur on material surfaces can lead to elevated concentrations of oxidized products in the occupied space of buildings. However, there is little information on the impact of materials at full scale, especially for green building materials. Experiments were completed in a 68 m3 climate-controlled test chamber with three certified green building materials that can cover large areas in buildings: (1) recycled carpet, (2) perlite-based ceiling tile and (3) low-VOC paint and primer on recycled drywall. Ozone deposition velocity and primary and secondary emission rates of C1 to C10 saturated carbonyls were determined for two chamber mixing conditions and three values of relative humidity. A direct comparison was made between ozone deposition velocities and carbonyl yields observed for the same materials analyzed in small (10 L) chambers. Total primary carbonyl emission rates from carpet, ceiling tile and painted drywall ranged from 27 to 120 μg m-2 h-1, 13 to 40 μg m-2 h-1, 3.9 to 42 μg m-2 h-1, respectively. Ozone deposition velocity to these three materials averaged 6.1 m h-1, 2.3 m h-1 and 0.32 m h-1, respectively. Total secondary carbonyl emissions from these materials ranged from 70 to 276 μg m-2 h-1, 0 to 12 μg m-2 h-1, and 0 to 30 μg m-2 h-1, respectively. Carbonyl emissions were determined with a transient approximation, and were found to be in general agreement with those found in the literature. These results suggest that care should be taken when selecting green building materials due to potentially large differences in primary and secondary emissions.

Designing Green Networks and Network Operations Saving Run-the-Engine Costs

CERN Document Server

Minoli, Daniel

2011-01-01

In recent years the confluence of socio-political trends toward environmental responsibility and the pressing need to reduce Run-the-Engine (RTE) costs has given birth to a nascent discipline of Green IT. A clear and concise introduction to green networks and green network operations, this book examines analytical measures and discusses virtualization, network computing, and web services as approaches for green data centers and networks. It identifies some strategies for green appliance and end devices and examines the methodical steps that can be taken over time to achieve a seamless migratio

Green roofs: potential at LANL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pacheco, Elena M [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

Green roofs, roof systems that support vegetation, are rapidly becoming one of the most popular sustainable methods to combat urban environmental problems in North America. An extensive list of literature has been published in the past three decades recording the ecological benefits of green roofs; and now those benefits have been measured in enumerated data as a means to analyze the costs and returns of green roof technology. Most recently several studies have made substantial progress quantifying the monetary savings associated with storm water mitigation, the lessoning of the Urban Heat Island, and reduction of building cooling demands due to the implementation of green roof systems. Like any natural vegetation, a green roof is capable of absorbing the precipitation that falls on it. This capability has shown to significantly decrease the amount of storm water runoff produced by buildings as well as slow the rate at which runoff is dispensed. As a result of this reduction in volume and velocity, storm drains and sewage systems are relieved of any excess stress they might experience in a storm. For many municipalities and private building owners, any increase in storm water mitigation can result in major tax incentives and revenue that does not have to be spent on extra water treatments. Along with absorption of water, vegetation on green roofs is also capable of transpiration, the process by which moisture is evaporated into the air to cool ambient temperatures. This natural process aims to minimize the Urban Heat Island Effect, a phenomenon brought on by the dark and paved surfaces that increases air temperatures in urban cores. As the sun distributes solar radiation over a city's area, dark surfaces such as bitumen rooftops absorb solar rays and their heat. That heat is later released during the evening hours and the ambient temperatures do not cool as they normally would, creating an island of constant heat. Such excessively high temperatures induce heat

University Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design: How Postsecondary Institutions Use the LEEDRTM Green Building Rating System

Science.gov (United States)

Chance, Shannon Massie

2010-01-01

This descriptive, exploratory study focused on how institutions of higher education have used the United States Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED[R]) Green Building Rating system. It employed statistical methods to assess which types of universities have used LEED, what ratings they earned, and…

Study on the dynamic evaluation of the regional green low-carbon transformation in China evidence from Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Chongmei

2016-01-01

Green low-carbon transformation is necessary to achieve sustainable development in “the eighteenth”. Based on the literature review of regional green low-carbon transformation, regional green low-carbon transformation and evaluation framework are defined as the process of building regional green low-carbon transformation. We think that the system innovation is a complex system. By establishing collaborative model of the green transformation of the system innovation, we evaluate dynamically the regional green transformation capacity with data envelopment analysis from changing and developing of the two systems. Which react the efficiency of resource allocation of two systems in-depth analysis of the interaction between the two development of the internal mechanism, and clearing the mechanism between system innovation and transformation capacity. Be corroborated in the case of the practice green transformation of the Jiaodong Peninsula (Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai), strengthening the quantitative study of the depth of the theory and practice in transition. We concluded that: the overall coordination between system innovation and green transformation in Jiaodong Peninsula is good during 2010–2013. System innovation capacity cannot be fully translated into green transformation capacity, and lag weakens the supporting role of other developments in the field innovation for the transition. The situation has become better since 2010. Finally, it focus that the value of research applications and future research direction.

Research on the Development Prospect of Assembled Passive Building Based on Green Development Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Lixin, Zhang; Ju, Ma; Baohui, He

2018-02-01

In recent years, the vigorous development of the construction industry has brought about serious problems of environmental pollution and resource consumption. In order to reduce the negative impact that the construction industry has on the natural environment,this paper, from the perspective of environmental protection, studies the pollution and high consumption problems existing in the production and use of traditional construction industry, compares and analyzes the green and energy-saving advantages in the construction and using phase of assembled passive building, and at the same time, combined with our country is vigorously promoting the assembled passive building and the green development, concluded that the assembled passive building is the new development direction of China’s construction industry.

Removal of malachite green dye from aqueous solution with adsorption technique using Limonia acidissima (wood apple shell as low cost adsorbent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashish S. Sartape

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In the present study, the use of low-cost, abundantly available, highly efficient and eco-friendly adsorbent wood apple shell (WAS has been reported as an alternative to the current expensive methods of removing of malachite green (MG dye from aqueous solution. The effects of different variables, adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, pH, contact time, temperature etc. were investigated and optimal experimental conditions were ascertained. The Langmuir isotherm model has given a better conformity than the Freundlich model with 80.645 mg/g as maximum adsorption capacity at 299 K. The adsorption of MG on WAS was confirmed by FTIR, SEM study, as it showed the change in characterization before and after adsorption. It was found that the Lagergren’s model could be used for the prediction of the system’s kinetics, while intraparticle diffusion study and Boyd plot were used to furnish the mechanistic study. Thermodynamic study concluded the spontaneous and endothermic nature of the adsorption. Present investigation and comparison with other reported adsorbents concluded that, WAS may be applied as a low-cost attractive option for removal of MG from aqueous solution.

Indoor air quality – buildings design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juhásová Šenitková Ingrid

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Growing attention is being paid to indoor air quality as one of the main health and well-being factors. The indoor research is concerned mostly to indoor air chemicals within indoor engineering related to building design. The providing good indoor air quality can be achieved effectively by avoiding or reducing indoor air pollution sources and by selecting low-polluting building materials, both being low-cost and energyefficient solutions. On the base of the last large experimental monitoring results, it was possible to know the level of selected indoor chemicals occurrence, rank them as well as to predict the tendencies of occurrence and establish the priorities for the future. There has been very limited attention to rigorous analysis of buildings actual environmental impacts to date. Healthy/green/sustainable building practices are typically applied in unsystematic and inconsistent ways often without resolution of inherent conflicts between and among such practices. Designers, products manufacturers, constructors, and owners declare their buildings and the applied technologies to be beneficial to the environment without validating those claims.

Energy Prediction versus Energy Performance of Green Buildings in Malaysia. Comparison of Predicted and Operational Measurement of GBI Certified Green Office in Kuala Lumpur

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaid Suzaini M

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Forward from the sustainability agenda of Brundtland in 1987 and the increasing demand for energy efficient buildings, the building industry has taken steps in meeting the challenge of reducing its environmental impact. Initiatives such as ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ design have been at the forefront of architecture, while green assessment tools have been used to predict the energy performance of building during its operational phase. However, there is still a significant hap between predicted or simulated energy measurements compared to actual operational energy consumption, or is more commonly referred as the ‘performance gap’. This paper tries to bridge this gap by comparing measured operational energy consumption of a Green Building Index (GBI certified office building in Kuala Lumpur, with its predicted energy rating qualification.

Optimal location selection for the installation of urban green roofs considering honeybee habitats along with socio-economic and environmental effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Gwak, Jae Ha; Lee, Bo Kyeong; Lee, Won Kyung; Sohn, So Young

2017-03-15

This study proposes a new framework for the selection of optimal locations for green roofs to achieve a sustainable urban ecosystem. The proposed framework selects building sites that can maximize the benefits of green roofs, based not only on the socio-economic and environmental benefits to urban residents, but also on the provision of urban foraging sites for honeybees. The framework comprises three steps. First, building candidates for green roofs are selected considering the building type. Second, the selected building candidates are ranked in terms of their expected socio-economic and environmental effects. The benefits of green roofs are improved energy efficiency and air quality, reduction of urban flood risk and infrastructure improvement costs, reuse of storm water, and creation of space for education and leisure. Furthermore, the estimated cost of installing green roofs is also considered. We employ spatial data to determine the expected effects of green roofs on each building unit, because the benefits and costs may vary depending on the location of the building. This is due to the heterogeneous spatial conditions. In the third step, the final building sites are proposed by solving the maximal covering location problem (MCLP) to determine the optimal locations for green roofs as urban honeybee foraging sites. As an illustrative example, we apply the proposed framework in Seoul, Korea. This new framework is expected to contribute to sustainable urban ecosystems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Creating a marketplace for green roofs in Chicago

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vitt Sale, L.; Berkshire, M.

2004-01-01

Since 2003, the Chicago Department of Planning and Development has been encouraging city developers to consider installing green roofs on buildings in Chicago, with the belief that this practice results in mitigation of the urban heat island effect, cleaner runoff leaving green roofs, sound attenuation, aesthetic value, oxygen production, and mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions. However, the benefits to developers, which include reduced stormwater runoff, extended roof life and energy savings, in total do not offset the first cost premium of a green roof. Despite this, and with no mandate requiring green roofs, the marketplace is growing. After seeing green roofs on a tour in Europe, the mayor of Chicago encouraged the first design and installation of a 20,300 square foot demonstration green roof in Chicago, and other city-sponsored pilot projects followed shortly after. Since then, the number of green roofs in Chicago has grown to over one million square feet. A map of Chicago showing locations of most of the projects was presented. It was suggested that lower prices for green roofs, higher energy costs and an inclination to invest in long-term strategies would accelerate the market. In an effort to engage the public in dialogue, the Department of Planning and Development held seminars to promote the benefits of green roofs . Participants had many questions about the applicability of green roofs to Chicago, expressing skepticism that Chicago's climate would provide the same benefits as in Europe. Other concerns were expressed regarding the devaluation of property values resulting from placing green roofs on buildings; doubts about roof leaks; maintenance practices; and, bugs and mold. Since the first cost premium of the system remains a question, most participants expressed interest in some kind of incentive program, but remained open-minded if benefits could be proved. 6 figs

Creating a marketplace for green roofs in Chicago

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vitt Sale, L. [Wright and Co. Chicago, IL (United States); Berkshire, M. [City of Chicago, IL (United States)

2004-07-01

Since 2003, the Chicago Department of Planning and Development has been encouraging city developers to consider installing green roofs on buildings in Chicago, with the belief that this practice results in mitigation of the urban heat island effect, cleaner runoff leaving green roofs, sound attenuation, aesthetic value, oxygen production, and mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions. However, the benefits to developers, which include reduced stormwater runoff, extended roof life and energy savings, in total do not offset the first cost premium of a green roof. Despite this, and with no mandate requiring green roofs, the marketplace is growing. After seeing green roofs on a tour in Europe, the mayor of Chicago encouraged the first design and installation of a 20,300 square foot demonstration green roof in Chicago, and other city-sponsored pilot projects followed shortly after. Since then, the number of green roofs in Chicago has grown to over one million square feet. A map of Chicago showing locations of most of the projects was presented. It was suggested that lower prices for green roofs, higher energy costs and an inclination to invest in long-term strategies would accelerate the market. In an effort to engage the public in dialogue, the Department of Planning and Development held seminars to promote the benefits of green roofs . Participants had many questions about the applicability of green roofs to Chicago, expressing skepticism that Chicago's climate would provide the same benefits as in Europe. Other concerns were expressed regarding the devaluation of property values resulting from placing green roofs on buildings; doubts about roof leaks; maintenance practices; and, bugs and mold. Since the first cost premium of the system remains a question, most participants expressed interest in some kind of incentive program, but remained open-minded if benefits could be proved. 6 figs.

Operations and Maintenance Cost for Stratified Buildings: A Critical Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Che-Ghani Nor Zaimah

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Building maintenance is essential in preserving buildings’ appearance and performance. It needs to upkeep the building performance to prolong its value and building life cycle. Malaysia is still lacking in managing cost for building operation and maintenance. It has been found that the cost for housing maintenance is high due to poor maintenance practices. In order to get better understanding on how to manage the cost, this study reviews the contributing factors that affecting operation and maintenance cost of stratified buildings in Malaysia. The research first identified the factors through extensive literature review and scrutinize on factors that affecting and can minimize operation and maintenance cost. This literature review offers insight into building maintenance scenario in Malaysia focusing on the issues and challenges. The study also finds that operation and maintenance cost for housing in Malaysia is still in poor state. Interestingly, this paper revealed that operation and maintenance cost is also influenced by three significant factors like expectation of tenants, building characteristics and building defects. Measures to reduce the housing operation and maintenance cost are also highlighted so that this study can be a stepping stone towards proposing efficient and effective facilities management strategies for affordable housing in future.

BREEAM Green Leaf Eco-rating Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

The environmental performance of buildings is measured for several reasons, the main one being that it can help owners decide where to invest their retrofit dollars to maximize the energy performance of their building and reduce operating costs. The buildings constructed in the 1950s and 1960s in North America are reaching obsolescence and will require major retrofits to improve their energy efficiency, particularly in the area of mechanical equipment. In addition to reducing operating costs, better maintenance and environmental management of buildings can also address issues such as comfort, health, indoor air quality and productivity. In order to accurately measure the environmental performance of a building, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive measuring and benchmarking tool that would allow occupants to compare the buildings' performance with others. In this pilot study, 6 high-rise multi-residential buildings were assessed for environmental performance using the BREEAM Green Leaf assessment method. The methodology originated in Canada and was developed by ECD Energy, Environment Canada and Terra Choice. It combines the BREEAM set of environmental issues with the Green Leaf Eco-Rating technique. The method covers occupant health, energy efficiency, resource efficiency, environmental responsibility and affordability. Operation and management issues are also taken into consideration. The buildings used in this study were located in various locations, ranging from inner city housing to city/suburban areas. 2 tabs., 17 figs

Eco-Environmental Factors in Green Roof Application in Indian Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Mukherjee, M.

2014-09-01

Green-roof is the cost-effective environmental mitigation strategy for urban areas [1]. Its application is limited in India primarily due to inadequate understanding about its cost-benefit analysis and technicalities of its maintenance. Increasing awareness about green roof can alter conservative attitude towards its application. So, this work presents a quantified study on green-roof types, cost and environmental benefits while considering different geo-urban climate scenarios for cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi. Cost estimation for extensive and intensive green-roof with reference to commonly used roof in urban India is also worked out. Attributes considered for environmental discussion are energy savings related to thermal heat gain through roof, roof-top storm-water drainage and sound attenuation. The comparative study confirms that further focused study on individual cities would identify city-specific objectives for green-roof application; strategies like awareness, capacity building programmes, incentives, demonstration projects etc. can be worked out accordingly for wider application of green-roof in Indian cities.

Investigation on Smoke Movement and Smoke Control for Atrium in Green and Sustainable Buildings

OpenAIRE

Fang, Lui; Nielsen, Peter V.; Brohus, Henrik

2007-01-01

 The concepts of green buildings and sustainable buildings are promoted actively in the developed countries. Targets are on protecting the environment, using less energy through natural ventilation provisions and daylight utilization, developing better waste management and taking resource conservation into account. Architectural and building design, electrical and mechanical systems, and building management have to be upgraded. However, there are problems in dealing with fire safety, especial...

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Green Infrastructures on Community Stormwater Reduction and Utilization: A Case of Beijing, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wen; Chen, Weiping; Feng, Qi; Peng, Chi; Kang, Peng

2016-12-01

Cost-benefit analysis is demanded for guiding the plan, design and construction of green infrastructure practices in rapidly urbanized regions. We developed a framework to calculate the costs and benefits of different green infrastructures on stormwater reduction and utilization. A typical community of 54,783 m 2 in Beijing was selected for case study. For the four designed green infrastructure scenarios (green space depression, porous brick pavement, storage pond, and their combination), the average annual costs of green infrastructure facilities are ranged from 40.54 to 110.31 thousand yuan, and the average of the cost per m 3 stormwater reduction and utilization is 4.61 yuan. The total average annual benefits of stormwater reduction and utilization by green infrastructures of the community are ranged from 63.24 to 250.15 thousand yuan, and the benefit per m 3 stormwater reduction and utilization is ranged from 5.78 to 11.14 yuan. The average ratio of average annual benefit to cost of four green infrastructure facilities is 1.91. The integrated facilities had the highest economic feasibility with a benefit to cost ratio of 2.27, and followed by the storage pond construction with a benefit to cost ratio of 2.14. The results suggested that while the stormwater reduction and utilization by green infrastructures had higher construction and maintenance costs, their comprehensive benefits including source water replacements benefits, environmental benefits and avoided cost benefits are potentially interesting. The green infrastructure practices should be promoted for sustainable management of urban stormwater.

Demonstrating leadership inside and out : green building project trains employees, educates clients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-01-15

This article described a full-scale green renovation project undertaken by a construction management firm in Newton, Massachusetts. Chapman Construction and Design began renovating its own office building in late 2007 and completed it in September 2008. The firm set out to achieve LEED Platinum certification from the United States Green Building Council. The project involved energy saving modifications to its mechanical systems; replacing plumbing fixtures with high efficiency alternatives to reduce water consumption by at least 40 per cent; installing skylights and additional windows to allow more natural light into the interior space; salvaging doors, lighting, metal studs and masonry whenever possible; and using sustainable products such as recyclable carpets, tiles and low-VOC paint. The main feature of the renovation was a new 47 kW (DC) photovoltaic (PV) solar power array installed on the rooftop. The PV array includes 208 panels and a SunPower SPR-225 system that produces 55,000 kWh of clean power per year. This grid connected system will supply 90 per cent of the company's electricity needs. During times of peak production, excess power will be sent back to the utility. This article also described the 3 different roofing systems upon which the PV system was installed. All of the roofing systems were manufactured by the Firestone Building Products Company and included an innovative and highly reflective white thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) single-ply roofing system; a RubberGard EPDM roofing system that was coated with Firestone's white AcryliTop coating which exceeds Energy Star requirements for energy efficiency; and a 1.5 mm Firestone UltraPly TPO membrane. The easy to install roofing systems were designed to prolong the service life of the roof and reflect solar radiation. 1 ref., 2 figs.

Low-Cost Gas Heat Pump for Building Space Heating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garrabrant, Michael [Stone Mountain Technologies, Inc., Johnson City, TN (United States); Keinath, Christopher [Stone Mountain Technologies, Inc., Johnson City, TN (United States)

2016-10-11

Gas-fired residential space heating in the U.S is predominantly supplied by furnaces and boilers. These technologies have been approaching their thermodynamic limit over the past 30 years and improvements for high efficiency units have approached a point of diminishing return. Electric heat pumps are growing in popularity but their heating performance at low ambient temperatures is poor. The development of a low-cost gas absorption heat pump would offer a significant improvement to current furnaces and boilers, and in heating dominated climate zones when compared to electric heat pumps. Gas absorption heat pumps (GAHP) exceed the traditional limit of thermal efficiency encountered by typical furnaces and boilers, and maintain high levels of performance at low ambient temperatures. The project team designed and demonstrated two low-cost packaged prototype GAHP space heating systems during the course of this investigation. Led by Stone Mountain Technologies Inc. (SMTI), with support from A.O. Smith, and the Gas Technology Institute (GTI), the cross-functional team completed research and development tasks including cycle modeling, 8× scaling of a compact solution pump, combustion system development, breadboard evaluation, fabrication of two packaged prototype units, third party testing of the first prototype, and the evaluation of cost and energy savings compared to high and minimum efficiency gas options. Over the course of the project and with the fabrication of two Alpha prototypes it was shown that this technology met or exceeded most of the stated project targets. At ambient temperatures of 47, 35, 17 and -13°F the prototypes achieved gas based coefficients of performance of 1.50, 1.44, 1.37, and 1.17, respectively. Both units operated with parasitic loads well below the 750 watt target with the second Alpha prototype operating 75-100 watts below the first Alpha prototype. Modulation of the units at 4:1 was achieved with the project goal of 2:1 modulation

Optimized design of low energy buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rudbeck, Claus Christian; Esbensen, Peter Kjær; Svendsen, Sv Aa Højgaard

1999-01-01

concern which can be seen during the construction of new buildings. People want energy-friendly solutions, but they should be economical optimized. An exonomical optimized building design with respect to energy consumption is the design with the lowest total cost (investment plus operational cost over its...... to evaluate different separate solutions when they interact in the building.When trying to optimize several parameters there is a need for a method, which will show the correct price-performance of each part of a building under design. The problem with not having such a method will first be showed...

Sokol Blosser Barrel Aging Cellar : green roofs and LEED{sup TM} buildings in the rural context

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cravens, L.L. [Sera Architects Inc., Portland, OR (United States)

2004-07-01

An earth covered structure that stores 900 barrels of wine at the Sokol Blosser Winery located in Yamhill Valley, southeast of Portland, Oregon was presented. The owner's decision to build as sustainably as possible when constructing the barrel aging cellar was reinforced by their involvement in the Oregon Natural Step Network, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability principles in any endeavor. The sustainable project design solution led by SERA Architects met the winery's requirements for an underground structure capable of storing 900 barrels of wine in three chambers; natural daylight throughout; control over the temperature and humidity; natural ventilation; the use of sustainable materials, and minimal materials; use of local products; preserving the maximum existing open area; and, minimizing construction demolition and waste. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria for the green building rating system was used to measure the green construction practices. The many benefits of burying the building were identified, namely the cooling system was eliminated, which reduced the cost of the mechanical system, reduced the major draw for energy, and eliminated any use of ozone depleting refrigerants. The roof's waterproofing system was provided by Tremco. Combined with a non-engineered earth cover the manufacturer provided a warranty of 20 years but predicted a 60 year life for the roof. The Roof sandwich structure from top down was described in detail and illustrations were presented. The final calculations indicate a $750 annual energy savings above a traditional space. 6 figs.

The market for green building in developed Asian cities. The perspectives of building designers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, Edwin H.W.; Qian, Queena K.; Lam, Patrick T.I.

2009-01-01

Green building (GB) is part of the concept of promoting sustainability. Although GB and the concept of sustainability are well studied for environmental concerns, their business rationale and related social concerns have not been fully explored or widely accepted by the parties involved in the building sector. In this study, the situation of GB market in relation to the general building market is reviewed and the business rationales of stakeholders to invest in the GB market have been investigated from the perspective of building designers. In addition, the factors that enhance the popularity of GB have been explored and the obstacles that hinder its market have been examined. The data are collected by a questionnaire survey covering building designers in Hong Kong and Singapore, the cities that are categorized as economically developed cities in Asia. After data analysis of the survey, this paper presents the findings of the business reasons for stakeholders to be involved in GB, the most favorable conditions required to promote GB business and the important obstacles that hinder its popularity. Based on the findings, recommendations and policy implications are tendered. (author)

基于模拟的中小学教学楼绿色设计方法研究——以寒冷地区为例%Green Design Method of Primary and Secondary School Teaching Buildings Based on Simulation:Taking Teaching Buildings in Cold Region for Example

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

贾佳; 刘丛红; 杨鸿玮

2017-01-01

中小学教学楼由于使用人群和功能的特点,其节能设计方法具有明显的特殊性,舒适度具有更高的要求.针对寒冷地区中小学教学楼,笔者运用性能模拟技术,提出了从建筑的整体控制、平面组织到空间优化的被动式绿色设计流程,将适宜的被动式策略应用于场地分析、建筑布局、体型控制、围护结构选择、功能配置以及空间的风光环境优化等设计环节,形成适合寒冷地区中小学教学楼的绿色设计方法,并将该方法应用到天津某小学教学楼设计实践中.%As an important type of public buildings,teaching buildings in primary and secondary schools occupy a large amount of construction volume.The users are mainly teenagers,and the functional requirements of the buildings are clear and specific with high standards in health,comfort,safety and other aspects.At the same time,the buildings in primary and secondary schools are good carriers of green culture education.Generally,the investment to the buildings is limited which means that reducing the construction cost must be considered.Because of the long vacation in winter and summer,the buildings do not operate in the coldest and hottest period of the year,which provide a potential to energy-saving.Therefore,relatively low-cost passive design strategies are very suitable to the teaching buildings in primary and secondary schools.Overall,the energy consumption characteristics of the buildings are obvious.This paper takes the teaching buildings in primary and secondary schools in cold region as the research objects.With the help of digital simulation technologies,appropriate passive green strategies are selected.As the result of the research,design processes and important technology strategies in each process are presented.Green design of the teaching buildings in primary and secondary school can be followed the passive design process from the building's overall control,plane organization to space

Sources and Transportation of Bulk, Low-Cost Lunar Simulant Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Rickman, D. L.

2013-01-01

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has built the Lunar Surface Testbed using 200 tons of volcanic cinder and ash from the same source used for the simulant series JSC-1. This Technical Memorandum examines the alternatives examined for transportation and source. The cost of low-cost lunar simulant is driven by the cost of transportation, which is controlled by distance and, to a lesser extent, quantity. Metabasalts in the eastern United States were evaluated due to their proximity to MSFC. Volcanic cinder deposits in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona were recognized as preferred sources. In addition to having fewer green, secondary minerals, they contain vesicular glass, both of which are desirable. Transportation costs were more than 90% of the total procurement costs for the simulant material.

A building cost estimation method for inland ships

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hekkenberg, R.G.

2014-01-01

There is very little publicly available data about the building cost of inland ships, especially for ships that have dimensions that differ significantly from those of common ships. Also, no methods to determine the building cost of inland ships are described in literature. In this paper, a method

Green rooms - schemes, feasible ways and aims concerning the improvement of the quality of life in residential buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roehrbein, R.

1986-06-01

Both an improvement of environs and an improvement of the quality of buildings contribute to checking the economic, social and psychological motives of the migration from urban to rural areas. An introductory survey describes the constructional schemes (e.g. Le Corbusier) the relevant efforts are based on. The author stresses the trend towards more roominess and freedom of movement. A brief description of the development since 1945 is followed by a detailed discussion exemplifying the rehabilitation of urban areas. Along with cost calculations and regulatory aspects (planning, building ordinance, attached greenhouses) the author presents a four-room maisonnette model with one of its rooms designed as a 'green room'. The zone verte of the latter (5x5 m) proved to be ideally suited for various most attractive uses. (HWJ).

Green IT Readiness: A Framework and Preliminary Proof of Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alemayehu Molla

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Businesses are under increasing pressure from customers, competitors, regulators and community groups to implement sustainable business practices. Balancing economic and environmental performance to be green and competitive is therefore a key strategic issue. The information technology (IT sector is one of the pioneer sectors which started working on the sustainable development model. However, it is only lately that researchers and organisations have begun to consider the role of IT, not only in contributing to a businesses environmental footprint but also in tackling climate change problems. Usually coined as, “Green Information Technology”, the role of IT in causing and resolving ecological sustainability, in maintaining low cost IT shops, in building green reputation capital and in supporting corporate green strategies has hardly been researched. This paper identifies four main areas of Green IT capability and describes the main pillars of a G-readiness framework to help organisations evaluate their maturity for Green IT. The utility of the framework is demonstrated through a desk-based research case study of seven organisations. The paper argues that just as e-readiness has been, and continues to be, a critical capability in the digital economy, G-readiness is an equally critical capability in the low carbon digital economy. Without a clear understanding of G-readiness, organisations would approach Green IT initiatives on an ad hoc and somewhat reactive basis, which is undesirable.

Opportunities for low carbon sustainability in large commercial buildings in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Ping; Keith Tovey, N.

2009-01-01

China's building sector consumes one quarter of total energy consumption in the country and plays an important role in long-term ability of the country to achieve sustainable development. This paper discusses a comprehensive approach to achieving low carbon sustainability in large commercial buildings in China incorporating both energy and carbon-reduction strategies. The approach concentrates primarily on three complementary aspects: (a) the introduction of an effective energy management system; (b) the incorporation of relevant advanced energy saving technologies and measures and (c) the promotion of awareness among occupants to make changes in their behaviour towards a more environmental-friendly behaviour. However, reference is also made to the role that renewable energy and offsetting may have in the effective management and environmental performance of buildings. Nine examples of large commercial buildings in Beijing and Shanghai were studied and the average electricity consumption of around 153 kWh/m 2 per annum is about 5 times higher than average electricity use in residential buildings. At the same time the associated green house gas (GHG) emissions are around 158 kg/m 2 per annum.

A novel solar multifunctional PV/T/D system for green building roofs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Chaoqing; Zheng, Hongfei; Wang, Rui; Yu, Xu; Su, Yuehong

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A novel transparent roof combines the solar PV/T/D system with green building design. • Novel photovoltaic-thermal roofing design can achieve excellent light control at noon. • The roof has no obvious influence on indoor light intensity in morning and afternoon. • Higher efficiency of solar energy utilization could be achieved with new roofing. - Abstract: A novel transparent roof which is made of solid CPC (Compound Parabolic Concentrator) PV/T/D (Photovoltaic/Thermal/Day lighting) system is presented. It combines the solar PV/T/D system with green building design. The PV/T/D system can achieve excellent light control at noon and adjust the thermal environment in the building, such that high efficiency utilization of solar energy could be achieved in modern architecture. This kind of roof can increase the visual comfort for building occupants; it can also avoid the building interior from overheating and dazzling at noon which is caused by direct sunlight through transparent roof. Optical simulation software is used to track the light path in different incidence angles. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation and steady state experiment have been taken to investigate the thermal characteristic of PV/T/D device. Finally, the PV/T/D experimental system was built; and the PV efficiency, light transmittance and air heating power of the system are tested under real sky conditions

Deployment Considerations for Low-cost Air Quality Sensor Networks; Examining Spatial Variability of Gas-Phase Pollutants Around a Building in Los Angeles

Science.gov (United States)

Collier-Oxandale, A. M.; Hannigan, M.; Casey, J. G.; Johnston, J.; Coffey, E.; Thorson, J.

2017-12-01

The field of low-cost air quality sensing technologies is growing rapidly through the continual development of new sensors, increased research into sensor performance, and more and more community groups utilizing sensors to investigate local issues. However, as this technology is still in an exploratory phase, there are few `best-practices' available to serve as guidelines for these projects and the standardization of some procedures could benefit the research community as a whole. For example, deployment considerations such as where and how to place a monitor at a given location are often determined by accessibility and safety, power-requirements, and what is an ideal for sampling the target pollutant. Using data from multiple gas-phase sensors, we will examine the importance of siting considerations for low-cost monitoring systems. During a sampling campaign in Los Angeles, a subset of monitors was deployed at one field site to explore the variability in air quality sensor data around a single building. The site is a three story, multi-family housing unit in a primarily residential neighborhood that is near two major roadways and other potential sources of pollution. Five low-cost monitors were co-located prior to and following the field deployment. During the approximately 2.5-month deployment, these monitors were placed at various heights above street level, on different sides of the building, and on the roof. In our analysis, we will examine how monitor placement affects a sensor's ability to detect local verses more regional trends and how this building-scale spatial variability changes over time. Additionally, examining data from VOC sensors (quantified for methane and total non-methane hydrocarbon signals) and O3 sensors will allow us to compare the variability of primary and secondary pollutants. An outcome of this analysis may include guidelines or `best practices' for siting sensors that could aid in ensuring the collection of high quality field data

Environmental performance of green building code and certification systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, Sangwon; Tomar, Shivira; Leighton, Matthew; Kneifel, Joshua

2014-01-01

We examined the potential life-cycle environmental impact reduction of three green building code and certification (GBCC) systems: LEED, ASHRAE 189.1, and IgCC. A recently completed whole-building life cycle assessment (LCA) database of NIST was applied to a prototype building model specification by NREL. TRACI 2.0 of EPA was used for life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). The results showed that the baseline building model generates about 18 thousand metric tons CO2-equiv. of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and consumes 6 terajoule (TJ) of primary energy and 328 million liter of water over its life-cycle. Overall, GBCC-compliant building models generated 0% to 25% less environmental impacts than the baseline case (average 14% reduction). The largest reductions were associated with acidification (25%), human health-respiratory (24%), and global warming (GW) (22%), while no reductions were observed for ozone layer depletion (OD) and land use (LU). The performances of the three GBCC-compliant building models measured in life-cycle impact reduction were comparable. A sensitivity analysis showed that the comparative results were reasonably robust, although some results were relatively sensitive to the behavioral parameters, including employee transportation and purchased electricity during the occupancy phase (average sensitivity coefficients 0.26-0.29).

Cost Estimates for the Decontamination and Decommissioning of Eight ORNL Buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hogan, M.

2006-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) contains a number of buildings that are antiquated and no longer used. These buildings historically were used for the production of atomic weapons and often remain contaminated with radioactive materials. Certain costs and risks are associated with the long-term stewardship of the buildings. One way to reduce these liabilities is to eliminate the buildings that are no longer in use and are not expected to be used in the future. Some of these buildings at ORNL are located in an area known as 'Isotope Circle'. From this area, eight buildings that are expected to be decontaminated and decommissioned (D and D) in the next five to ten years were chosen to have cost estimates completed. The specific facilities are Buildings 3030, 3031, 3118, 3032, 3033, 3033 Annex, 3034, and 3093. There are many challenges for estimating the costs to D and D buildings potentially contaminated with radionuclides. Each building is unique, has various types and levels of contamination, and (as in this case) often lacks up-to-date information. Because of these limitations, order-of- magnitude cost estimates for each of the eight ORNL buildings were completed using parametric cost modeling software known as RACER TM (Remedial Action Cost Engineering and Requirements System). This type of cost estimate is useful for screening technical concepts and is used for budgetary planning. For the eight buildings evaluated in this study, the total cost to D and D was estimated to be nearly $6 M. This value includes the direct cost of approximately $3.5 M to complete D and D and $2.5 M in cost markups. Also, assuming the actual project does not begin until the year 2010, this total cost is escalated to almost $6.7 M, which accounts for expected inflation. Although the cost estimates in this study were expected to have a wide range in accuracy, there are various factors that could impact these estimates in a negative or positive fashion

Research on the Implementation of Technological Measures for Controlling Indoor Environmental Quality in Green Residential Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ruozhu; Liu, Pengda; Qian, Yongmei

2018-02-01

This paper analyzes the design technology of controlling indoor quality in engineering practice, it is proposed that, in framework system of green residential building design, how to realize the design idea of controlling the indoor environment quality, and the design technology with feasibility, including the sunshine and lighting, indoor air quality and thermal environment, sound insulation and noise reduction measures, etc.. The results of all will provide a good theoretical supportting for the design of green residential building.

Green roof valuation: a probabilistic economic analysis of environmental benefits.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Corrie; Adriaens, Peter; Talbot, F Brian

2008-03-15

Green (vegetated) roofs have gained global acceptance as a technologythat has the potential to help mitigate the multifaceted, complex environmental problems of urban centers. While policies that encourage green roofs exist atthe local and regional level, installation costs remain at a premium and deter investment in this technology. The objective of this paper is to quantitatively integrate the range of stormwater, energy, and air pollution benefits of green roofs into an economic model that captures the building-specific scale. Currently, green roofs are primarily valued on increased roof longevity, reduced stormwater runoff, and decreased building energy consumption. Proper valuation of these benefits can reduce the present value of a green roof if investors look beyond the upfront capital costs. Net present value (NPV) analysis comparing a conventional roof system to an extensive green roof system demonstrates that at the end of the green roof lifetime the NPV for the green roof is between 20.3 and 25.2% less than the NPV for the conventional roof over 40 years. The additional upfront investment is recovered at the time when a conventional roof would be replaced. Increasing evidence suggests that green roofs may play a significant role in urban air quality improvement For example, uptake of N0x is estimated to range from $1683 to $6383 per metric ton of NOx reduction. These benefits were included in this study, and results translate to an annual benefit of $895-3392 for a 2000 square meter vegetated roof. Improved air quality leads to a mean NPV for the green roof that is 24.5-40.2% less than the mean conventional roof NPV. Through innovative policies, the inclusion of air pollution mitigation and the reduction of municipal stormwater infrastructure costs in economic valuation of environmental benefits of green roofs can reduce the cost gap that currently hinders U.S. investment in green roof technology.

The Green Building Handbook of South Africa: Volume 10: The Essential Guide

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Although not explicitly stated, green A. rating systems fundamentally aim to improve building performance albeit with a bias toward environmental issues. Thus LEED promotes its system as being "resource efficient"reducing water and energy use...

Ozone deposition velocities, reaction probabilities and product yields for green building materials

Science.gov (United States)

Lamble, S. P.; Corsi, R. L.; Morrison, G. C.

2011-12-01

Indoor surfaces can passively remove ozone that enters buildings, reducing occupant exposure without an energy penalty. However, reactions between ozone and building surfaces can generate and release aerosols and irritating and carcinogenic gases. To identify desirable indoor surfaces the deposition velocity, reaction probability and carbonyl product yields of building materials considered green (listed, recycled, sustainable, etc.) were quantified. Nineteen separate floor, wall or ceiling materials were tested in a 10 L, flow-through laboratory reaction chamber. Inlet ozone concentrations were maintained between 150 and 200 ppb (generally much lower in chamber air), relative humidity at 50%, temperature at 25 °C and exposure occurred over 24 h. Deposition velocities ranged from 0.25 m h -1 for a linoleum style flooring up to 8.2 m h -1 for a clay based paint; reaction probabilities ranged from 8.8 × 10 -7 to 6.9 × 10 -5 respectively. For all materials, product yields of C 1 thru C 12 saturated n-aldehydes, plus acetone ranged from undetectable to greater than 0.70 The most promising material was a clay wall plaster which exhibited a high deposition velocity (5.0 m h -1) and a low product yield (

Thermal insulation performance of green roof systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Celik, Serdar; Morgan, Susan; Retzlaff, William; Once, Orcun [southern Illinois University (United States)], e-mail: scelik@siue.edu, e-mail: smorgan@siue.edu, e-mail: wretzla@siue.edu, e-mail: oonce@siue.edu

2011-07-01

With the increasing costs of energy, good building insulation has become increasingly important. Among existing insulation techniques is the green roof system, which consists of covering the roof of a building envelop with plants. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of vegetation type and growth media on the thermal performance of green roof systems. Twelve different green roof samples were made with 4 different growth media and 3 sedum types. Temperature at the sample base was recorded every 15 minutes for 3 years; the insulation behavior was then analysed. Results showed that the insulation characteristics were achieved with a combination of haydite and sedum sexangulare. This study demonstrated that the choice of growth media and vegetation is important to the green roof system's performance; further research is required to better understand the interactions between growth media and plant roots.

Optimization of Energy Efficiency and Conservation in Green Building Design Using Duelist, Killer-Whale and Rain-Water Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Biyanto, T. R.; Matradji; Syamsi, M. N.; Fibrianto, H. Y.; Afdanny, N.; Rahman, A. H.; Gunawan, K. S.; Pratama, J. A. D.; Malwindasari, A.; Abdillah, A. I.; Bethiana, T. N.; Putra, Y. A.

2017-11-01

The development of green building has been growing in both design and quality. The development of green building was limited by the issue of expensive investment. Actually, green building can reduce the energy usage inside the building especially in utilization of cooling system. External load plays major role in reducing the usage of cooling system. External load is affected by type of wall sheathing, glass and roof. The proper selection of wall, type of glass and roof material are very important to reduce external load. Hence, the optimization of energy efficiency and conservation in green building design is required. Since this optimization consist of integer and non-linear equations, this problem falls into Mixed-Integer-Non-Linear-Programming (MINLP) that required global optimization technique such as stochastic optimization algorithms. In this paper the optimized variables i.e. type of glass and roof were chosen using Duelist, Killer-Whale and Rain-Water Algorithms to obtain the optimum energy and considering the minimal investment. The optimization results exhibited the single glass Planibel-G with the 3.2 mm thickness and glass wool insulation provided maximum ROI of 36.8486%, EUI reduction of 54 kWh/m2·year, CO2 emission reduction of 486.8971 tons/year and reduce investment of 4,078,905,465 IDR.

Fair Division of Costs in Green Energy Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Kronborg, Dorte; Smilgins, Aleksandrs

2017-01-01

This paper considers cost allocation in networks where agents are characterized by stochastic demand and supply of a non-storable good, e.g. green energy. The grid itself creates possibilities of exchanging energy between agents and we propose to allocate common costs in proportion to the economi...... gain of being part of the grid. Our model includes a set of fundamental requirements for the associated trading platform. In particular, it is argued that a suitable mechanism deviates from a traditional market. The approach is illustrated by simulations....

Cost-effectiveness in the mitigation of green house gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rey, Francisco Carlos

2009-01-01

This paper analyzes the cost-effectiveness in the mitigation of green house gases from solar, eolic and nuclear energy sources, concluding that nuclear is, not doubt, the mos efficient. On the other hand, nuclear is the unique source that can be installed without limit in magnitude and in the proximity of the demand, and is for all these reasons that several environmental referents in the world have changed their perception on this source and defend it as the unique actual alternative to fight against the emission of green house gases. (author) [es

Assessment of energy credits for the enhancement of the Egyptian Green Pyramid Rating System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdel Aleem, Shady H.E.; Zobaa, Ahmed F.; Abdel Mageed, Hala M.

2015-01-01

Energy is one of the most important categories in the Green Building Rating Systems all over the world. Green Building is a building that meets the energy requirements of the present with low energy consumption and investment costs without infringing on the rights of forthcoming generations to find their own needs. Despite having more than a qualified rating system, it is clear that each system has different priorities and needs on the other. Accordingly, this paper proposes a methodology using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for assessment of the energy credits through studying and comparing four of the common global rating systems, the British Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), the American Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the Australian Green Stars (GS), and the PEARL assessment system of the United Arab Emirates, in order to contribute to the enhancement of the Egyptian Green Pyramid Rating System (GPRS). The results show the mandatory and optional energy credits that should be considered with their proposed weights according to the present and future needs of green Egypt. The results are compared to data gathered through desk studies and results extracted from recent questionnaires. - Highlights: • The Egyptian rating system is underway but not on track. • The main objective is the enhancement of the Egyptian rating system. • We propose a methodology for assessment of the energy credits. • The results show the optional energy credits with their optimal weights. • The results show the mandatory energy credits that should be considered.

A Study on Life Cycle CO2 Emissions of Low-Carbon Building in South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Su-Hyun Cho

2016-06-01

Full Text Available There have been much interest and many efforts to control global warming and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG emissions throughout the world. Recently, the Republic of Korea has also increased its GHG reduction goal and searched for an implementation plan. In buildings, for example, there have been technology developments and deployment policies to reduce GHG emissions from a life cycle perspective, covering construction materials, building construction, use of buildings and waste disposal. In particular, Korea’s Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design is a certification of environmentally-friendly buildings for their energy saving and reduction of environmental pollution throughout their lives. In fact, the demand and adoption of the certification are rising every year. In construction materials and buildings, as a result, an environmentally-friendly aspect has become crucial. The importance of construction material and building development technologies that can reduce environmental load by diminishing GHG emissions in buildings has emerged. Moreover, there has been a rising necessity to verify the GHG reduction effects of buildings. To assess the reduction of carbon emissions in the buildings built with low-carbon construction technologies and materials, therefore, this study estimated life cycle carbon emissions in reference buildings in which general construction materials are used and in low-carbon buildings. For this, the carbon emissions and their reduction from construction materials (especially concrete between conventional products and low-carbon materials were estimated, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA. After estimating carbon emissions from a building life cycle perspective, their reduction in low-carbon buildings compared to the reference buildings was reviewed. The results found that compared to conventional buildings, low-carbon buildings revealed a 25% decrease in carbon emissions in terms of the reduction of Life Cycle

Design, Build and Validation of a Low-Cost Programmable Battery Cycler

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Propp, Karsten; Fotouhi, Abbas; Knap, Vaclav

2016-01-01

The availability of laboratory grade equipment for battery tests is usually limited due to high costs of the hardware. Especially for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries these experiments can be time intensive since the cells need to be precycled and are usually cycled with relatively low loads....... To improve the availability of test hardware, this paper conducts a study to design and test a low cost solution for cycling and testing batteries for tasks that do not necessarily need the high precision of professional hardware. While the described solution is in principle independent of the cell chemistry......, here it is specifically optimized to fit to Li-S batteries. To evaluate the accuracy of the presented battery cycler, the hardware is tested and compared with a professional Kepco bipolar power source. The results indicate the usefulness for application oriented battery tests with real life cycles...

Investigating the types of value and cost of green brands

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Papista, Erifili; Krystallis Krontalis, Athanasios

2013-01-01

development with green brands. The CV framework adopted here may provide practitioners with knowledge on the value and sacrifice factors, as well as the dimensions of RQ that are the most important in targeting green consumers and designing relationship marketing strategies. The article also fulfils......This conceptual article applies the customer value (CV) concept in the context of green marketing aiming to provide insights on the factors that motivate and/ or hinder the development of consumer–green brand relationships. The article draws upon existing literature on the streams of CV......, relationship marketing and environmental behaviour and synthesises relevant findings to propose an integrated conceptual framework entailing all identified types of value and cost, psychographic characteristics, as well as dimensions of relationship quality (RQ) and loyalty. Furthermore, it addresses existing...

GREEN CONCEPTS AND MATERIAL FLOW COST ACCOUNTING APPLICATION FOR COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rochman Marota

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Health equipment and furniture become a complementary factor for good health services to the communities. Management of health equipment and furniture is started by manufacturers within the industry scope and sustainable business processes. This study aimed to apply green concepts and MFCA at PT XYZ, and to analyze their effects on the dimensions of the company sustainability. To measure the effects of green concepts and MFCA on the dimensions of corporate sustainability, a multiple regression analysis was used. The analysis showed that they gave significant effects from the results of the F test, t test and probability test. From these results, a number of suggestions for improvement of production process performance as managerial implications for maintaining the stability of the company sustainability index were formulated.Keywords: efficiency and effectiveness of production cost, green concepts, the company sustainability, material flow cost accounting

Elementary Introduction to the Green Management of the Construction in Whole Process

Science.gov (United States)

Na), Wu Y. N.(Yun; Yu), Yan H. Y.(Hong; Jun), Huang Z. J.(Zhi

Construction industries consume more energy resources than necessary. it is essential to establish a management system with all pollution problems resolved to construct green buildings. By applying the theory of whole life cycle, this paper divides the whole process of construction into four sub-phases, which will also be subdivided into more concrete working procedures. Based on this, a systematic framework is promoted for the green management of the construction, especially and creatively, considering the green aims as important as the traditional three aims-"quality aim, schedule aim and cost aim". This framework, adhering to the integration idea-"customers first, whole optimal", regards the green control and workflow as an organic whole in order to build green, sustainable and healthy architecture, and then provide a perfect guide and reference to the green management.

Study on post occupancy evaluation after remodeling in accordance with the `green remodeling certification standards of existing non-residential buildings'- Focusing on the case of H building

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Kyungjoo; Cho, Dongwoo; Yoon, Yosun

2018-06-01

South Korea has adopted the Paris Convention and promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 37% from business-as-usual (BAU) levels in the `First Basic Plan to Respond to Climate Change'. The reduction goal of greenhouse gas cannot be achieved considering only new buildings; the analysis results shows that the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings is essential. `The Green Remodeling Certification Standards', established in South Korea in 2016, is in line with the above plan. The post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of remodeled buildings after applying the `Green Remodeling Certification Standards of Existing Buildings' must be studied for expansion of this scheme. The study results are expected to be used as foundational data for the promotion of remodeling existing buildings.

Hazard identification checklist: Occupational safety and health issues associated with green building

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Terwoert, J.; Ustailieva, E.

2013-01-01

This checklist accompanies the e-fact on the same topic and aims to help identify the potential hazards to workers’ safety and health associated with the planning and construction of green buildings, their maintenance, renovation (retrofitting), demolition, and on-site waste collection. It also

Data on cost-optimal Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs across Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Delia D'Agostino

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This data article refers to the research paper A model for the cost-optimal design of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs in representative climates across Europe [1]. The reported data deal with the design optimization of a residential building prototype located in representative European locations. The study focus on the research of cost-optimal choices and efficiency measures in new buildings depending on the climate. The data linked within this article relate to the modelled building energy consumption, renewable production, potential energy savings, and costs. Data allow to visualize energy consumption before and after the optimization, selected efficiency measures, costs and renewable production. The reduction of electricity and natural gas consumption towards the NZEB target can be visualized together with incremental and cumulative costs in each location. Further data is available about building geometry, costs, CO2 emissions, envelope, materials, lighting, appliances and systems.

Data on cost-optimal Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) across Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Agostino, Delia; Parker, Danny

2018-04-01

This data article refers to the research paper A model for the cost-optimal design of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) in representative climates across Europe [1]. The reported data deal with the design optimization of a residential building prototype located in representative European locations. The study focus on the research of cost-optimal choices and efficiency measures in new buildings depending on the climate. The data linked within this article relate to the modelled building energy consumption, renewable production, potential energy savings, and costs. Data allow to visualize energy consumption before and after the optimization, selected efficiency measures, costs and renewable production. The reduction of electricity and natural gas consumption towards the NZEB target can be visualized together with incremental and cumulative costs in each location. Further data is available about building geometry, costs, CO 2 emissions, envelope, materials, lighting, appliances and systems.

Long Term Cost Efficiency through Green Management Control Systems

OpenAIRE

Vukania Adda, Nancy; Qin, Xiaochen

2012-01-01

Title: Long term cost efficiency through green management control systems.Authors: Nancy Vukania &Xiaochen QinSupervisor: Åsa Karin-EngstrandBackground: The worldwide financial crisis of 2008 has reconfigured the economic turf leading to a more uncertain and turbulent playing field – a greater challenge for business strategy and the quest for optimization- The oil price hike of 2008 (Furlong 2010)1 caused its rippling effect to affect various cost categories including energy, labor and lo...

The Cost of Enforcing Building Energy Codes: Phase 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Alison [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Price, Sarah K. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Vine, Ed [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2014-10-15

The purpose of this study is to present key findings regarding costs associated with enforcing building energy code compliance–primarily focusing on costs borne by local government. Building codes, if complied with, have the ability to save a significant amount of energy. However, energy code compliance rates have been significantly lower than 100%. Renewed interest in building energy codes has focused efforts on increasing compliance, particularly as a result of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) requirement that in order for states to receive additional energy grants, they must have “a plan for the jurisdiction achieving compliance with the building energy code…in at least 90 percent of new and renovated residential and commercial building space” by 2017 (Public Law 111-5, Section 410(2)(C)). One study by the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) estimated the costs associated with reaching 90% compliance to be $810 million, or $610 million in additional funding over existing expenditures, a non-trivial value. [Majersik & Stellberg 2010] In this context, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) conducted a study to better pinpoint the costs of enforcement through a two-phase process.

GREEN CORE HOUSE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NECULAI Oana

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The Green Core House is a construction concept with low environmental impact, having as main central element a greenhouse. The greenhouse has the innovative role to use the biomass energy provided by plants to save energy. Although it is the central piece, the greenhouse is not the most innovative part of the Green Core House, but the whole building ensemble because it integrates many other sustainable systems as "waste purification systems", "transparent photovoltaic panels" or "double skin façades".

Transaction Costs (TCs) in Building Regulations and Control for Green Buildings : Case Study of Hong Kong

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fan, Ke; Qian, K.; Chan, EHW; Kähkönen, Kalle; Keinänen, Marko

2016-01-01

About 40% of global energy consumption and nearly one-third of global CO2 emissions are on account of buildings. In Hong Kong, buildings consume up to 90% of electricity during construction and operation, where all the design and construction of private developments is subject to control under the

Admissibility of building cost subsidy in the power grid above the low voltage level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foerster, Sven

2015-01-01

Electricity networks are essential to the provision of electrical power to businesses and individuals. In particular for manufacturing businesses a connection to the grid above the low-voltage level is often useful. Network operators demand a subsidy for the new connection and for the change to a higher network level under the auspices of construction cost. The power network market above the low-voltage level is a natural monopoly. This leaves consumers looking for a connection to the power grid with no possibility to select among different network operators. Construction cost subsidies are not regulated by law above the low voltage level. The lack of legal regulation and the natural monopoly above the low-voltage level affect the balance of power between network operators and system users. The lawfulness of the construction cost subsidies, the prerequisites for their demand and a review of the calculation models (Leistungspreismodell, 2-Ebenen-Modell) as well as a proposal for a reform of this system form the subject of this work.

Intelligent Controls for Net-Zero Energy Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Haorong; Cho, Yong; Peng, Dongming

2011-10-30

The goal of this project is to develop and demonstrate enabling technologies that can empower homeowners to convert their homes into net-zero energy buildings in a cost-effective manner. The project objectives and expected outcomes are as follows: • To develop rapid and scalable building information collection and modeling technologies that can obtain and process “as-built” building information in an automated or semiautomated manner. • To identify low-cost measurements and develop low-cost virtual sensors that can monitor building operations in a plug-n-play and low-cost manner. • To integrate and demonstrate low-cost building information modeling (BIM) technologies. • To develop decision support tools which can empower building owners to perform energy auditing and retrofit analysis. • To develop and demonstrate low-cost automated diagnostics and optimal control technologies which can improve building energy efficiency in a continual manner.

Research and application of active hollow core slabs in building systems for utilizing low energy sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Xinhua; Yu, Jinghua; Wang, Shengwei; Wang, Jinbo

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A review on the development and modeling of active hollow core slab is presented. • The applications and performance evaluation of the slab in building are reviewed. • Finite element or finite difference method is often used in multidimensional model. • Performance evaluations of building using active slabs for ventilation are limited. • More works on the active hollow core slab are worthwhile. - Abstract: The society and the building professionals have paid much concern in recent years on building energy efficiency and the development and applications of low energy technologies for buildings/green buildings allowing the elimination, or at least reduction of dependence on electricity or fossil fuel while maintaining acceptable indoor environment. Utilizations of favorable diurnal temperature difference and ground thermal source for air conditioning are among these low energy technologies. Utilization of the hollow cores in the prefabricated slab for ventilation and the mass of the slab for thermal storage is widely used in building systems in Europe by exploiting the low energy source of the ambient air. These hollow core slabs aim at enlarging the heat transfer surface between the slab mass and the air in the core, which permits substantial heat flows even for relatively small temperature differences. This, in turn, allows the use of low energy cooling or heating sources, such as the ground, outside air or recovered process heat. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of the research and application of active hollow core slabs in building systems for utilizing low energy sources. The principle and development of active hollow core slabs in building systems for leveling the indoor temperature fluctuation by ventilation air passing the cores are described. Calculation models of the active hollow core concrete slab as well as the practical applications and performance evaluation of the slab applied in building systems for air

A perspective study on green cleaning for Malaysian public hospital

Science.gov (United States)

Ramli, N. A.; Zawawi, E. M.; Arif, N. R. M.; Mahbob, N. S.; Sulaiman, Z.; Zainol, N. N.

2018-02-01

Cleaning being a major contributor to the operations and maintenance expenditure and also Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) issues. Improper and ineffective cleaning can harm the environment and poses greatest risk to health. The use of traditional cleaning products presents a variety of human health and ecological concerns; and may contribute to poor IEQ. As an effort to reduce the issue of operations and maintenance costs and IEQ issues in a building, it is important to establish a green cleaning programme to ensure that the buildings are cleaned in a green way. Numbers of scholars has pointed out the factors which had prevented the green cleaning implementation in hospital buildings. Nonetheless, the significance of these factors has yet to be practically explored in the Malaysian context. Hence, the aim of the paper is to identify the most critical factor that prevents the implementation of green cleaning in Malaysian hospital building. A questionnaire survey and personal communication (i.e. interview) was conducted which involved two groups of respondents. They are the hospital maintenance staff (Cleansing Service Department) and cleaning contractors. Frequency and criticality index calculations have been used to rank these factors according to the level of importance. The result showed that an “unclear components and requirements of green cleaning” indicated as the most critical factor that prevent the implementation of green cleaning in Malaysian hospital building. In the concern for a successful implementation of green cleaning, it is hope that the findings of these studies can be enlightenment to the cleaning contractors as well as the hospital maintenance management team in Malaysia.

On cost benefit rules for green taxes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aronsson, T.

1999-01-01

This paper concerns the welfare effects of a green tax reform in a dynamic general equilibrium model with preexisting taxes on labor income and capital income. In comparison with previous studies on green taxes in dynamic models, which have focused their main attention on long run effects of such reforms, I derive cost benefit rules for a change in the tax mix by using the properties of the value function in optimal control theory. This enables me to relate the welfare effect of a change in the tax mic to responses in employment, the capital stock, (flow) emissions and the stock of pollution along the whole general equilibrium path. Another contribution of the paper is to examine under what conditions an emission tax, which is set permanently below the marginal damage of pollution, is welfare superior to an emission tax path that fully internalizes the external effect. 22 refs

Low-energy district heating in energy-efficient building areas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalla Rosa, Alessandro; Christensen, Jørgen Erik

2011-01-01

of a low-energy network for low-energy houses in Denmark. We took into account the effect of human behaviour on energy demand, the effect of the number of buildings connected to the network, a socio-economic comparison with ground source heat pumps, and opportunities for the optimization of the network...... to 0.20 MWh/(m year), and that the levelized cost of energy in low-energy DH supply is competitive with a scenario based on ground source heat pumps. The investment costs represent up to three quarters of the overall expenditure, over a time horizon of 30 years; so, the implementation of an energy...... system that fully relies on renewable energy needs substantial capital investment, but in the long term this is sustainable from the environmental and socio-economic points of view. Having demonstrated the value of the low-energy DH concept, we evaluated various possible designs with the aim of finding...

Mental models of a water management system in a green building.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalantzis, Anastasia; Thatcher, Andrew; Sheridan, Craig

2016-11-01

This intergroup case study compared users' mental models with an expert design model of a water management system in a green building. The system incorporates a constructed wetland component and a rainwater collection pond that together recycle water for re-use in the building and its surroundings. The sample consisted of five building occupants and the cleaner (6 users) and two experts who were involved with the design of the water management system. Users' mental model descriptions and the experts' design model were derived from in-depth interviews combined with self-constructed (and verified) diagrams. Findings from the study suggest that there is considerable variability in the user mental models that could impact the efficient functioning of the water management system. Recommendations for improvements are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cost-benefit analysis of decreased ventilation rates and radon exhalation from building materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ericson, S.O.

1984-01-01

Decreased ventilation, achieved by weather stripping and other tightening measures, is the most cost effective way to energy conservation. A very low investment can result in a considerable decrease in ventilation rate. For a typical detached house in Sweden this can be equivalent to a decrease in oil consumption of 0.5 m 3 . At present price this corresponds to a saving of SEK 1200, 150 US dollars per annum. The contribution of the building materials to the concentration of radon in indoor air is approximately the inverse to air exchange rate. For a small change in ventilation rate and cost, in SEK/man Sv or US dollar/man Sv, is a function of ventilation rate, exhalation from building materials, the ratio between surface of walls, floor and ceiling to the volume of air. Thus, it is possible to find the specific ventilation rate where the marginal cost for a small increase in ventilation rate and the marginal reduction in radon concentration will give a specific amount of money for each man Sv. Examples are given. Conclusions are that for most building materials in a climate like the Swedish, there are other factors than exhalation of radon from building materials that sets the lower limit of recommendable ventilation rate. (Author)

Green Roofs: Standardization and Quality Control of Processes in Green Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korol Elena

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article considers the problems of standardization and quality control of processes in the construction, improvement of integrated safety of buildings and the implementation of innovative green building technologies, the use of national standards as well as international rating systems for green buildings evaluation. This is one of the priority directions in development of the modern construction. The aim of this study is the analysis of the green roof systems and international standards, which were carried out in the green building industry. The authors have studied traditional and innovative solutions of rational using natural resources and energy, the green roof system with integration of supported solar and wind energy collecting and converting devices and of irrigation system. Some studies provide evidence for the benefits of the modular green roof system in urban green space with microclimate differences. This article presents a new research which advances our knowledge of the economic and environmental services provided by the green roof system. Research reported here also considers the analysis of the Russian and international legislation of the quality control of processes in green construction.

Additive Manufacturing of Low Cost Upper Stage Propulsion Components

Science.gov (United States)

Protz, Christopher; Bowman, Randy; Cooper, Ken; Fikes, John; Taminger, Karen; Wright, Belinda

2014-01-01

NASA is currently developing Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies and design tools aimed at reducing the costs and manufacturing time of regeneratively cooled rocket engine components. These Low Cost Upper Stage Propulsion (LCUSP) tasks are funded through NASA's Game Changing Development Program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate. The LCUSP project will develop a copper alloy additive manufacturing design process and develop and optimize the Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (EBF3) manufacturing process to direct deposit a nickel alloy structural jacket and manifolds onto an SLM manufactured GRCop chamber and Ni-alloy nozzle. In order to develop these processes, the project will characterize both the microstructural and mechanical properties of the SLMproduced GRCop-84, and will explore and document novel design techniques specific to AM combustion devices components. These manufacturing technologies will be used to build a 25K-class regenerative chamber and nozzle (to be used with tested DMLS injectors) that will be tested individually and as a system in hot fire tests to demonstrate the applicability of the technologies. These tasks are expected to bring costs and manufacturing time down as spacecraft propulsion systems typically comprise more than 70% of the total vehicle cost and account for a significant portion of the development schedule. Additionally, high pressure/high temperature combustion chambers and nozzles must be regeneratively cooled to survive their operating environment, causing their design to be time consuming and costly to build. LCUSP presents an opportunity to develop and demonstrate a process that can infuse these technologies into industry, build competition, and drive down costs of future engines.

Whole Building Cost and Performance Measurement: Data Collection Protocol Revision 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fowler, Kimberly M.; Spees, Kathleen L.; Kora, Angela R.; Rauch, Emily M.; Hathaway, John E.; Solana, Amy E.

2009-03-27

This protocol was written for the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) to be used by the public as a tool for assessing building cost and performance measurement. The primary audiences are sustainable design professionals, asset owners, building managers, and research professionals within the Federal sector. The protocol was developed based on the need for measured performance and cost data on sustainable design projects. Historically there has not been a significant driver in the public or private sector to quantify whole building performance in comparable terms. The deployment of sustainable design into the building sector has initiated many questions on the performance and operational cost of these buildings.

Analysis of Cost of Rework on Time and Cost Performance of Building Construction Projects in Abuja, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuel Chidiebere Eze

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Rework is a menace that leads to undesired and unnecessary loss of efforts, it degrades project cost and schedule performance of construction projects, both at design and construction phases. This study therefore, analyzed the impact of cost of rework on time and cost performance of building construction projects in Nigerian, using selected commercial building project within the country’s capital. A pro forma was adopted for gathering data on rework cost, project cost and time of selected building projects, while structured questionnaire was used to collect information on the likely measures for reducing rework incidences from construction professionals that were involved in the delivery of the identified projects. Regression analysis, relative importance index and Kruskal-Walis test were employed for data analysis. The study revealed a significant relationship between the cost of rework and initial and final project cost of delivering commercial buildings, as an average of 3.53% impact on the initial project cost, 46.60% contribution to cost overrun, and p-value of 0.000 was observed on all assessed projects. For the project delivery time, a significant relationship between the cost of rework and initial and final project duration, as an average of 7.35% impact on the initial delivery time, extra 19 days and p-value of 0.000 was observed on all assessed projects. Team building and education, management commitment, employee involvement, were some of the best possible measures to minimized rework problems.

Green design for productivity, health and quality of life

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hartkopf, V. [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics

2005-07-01

The potential cost-benefits for quality construction of office buildings were discussed with particular reference to sick building costs and health building gains. Cost-benefits were indicated in terms of first cost, operational energy costs, individual productivity, organizational productivity, health, attraction, taxation, and waste. The measures of human response in buildings were also discussed with reference to comfort and satisfaction, individual productivity, health and absenteeism, attraction, spatial flexibility, motivation and collaboration. The building attributes that have the greatest impact include air, light, thermal control, ergonomics, privacy and interaction, access to nature, land use and mobility. It was suggested that natural ventilation should be maximized with mixed-mode heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and that ventilation air should be separate from thermal conditioning. It was also suggested that temperature control can increase productivity and reduce energy consumption. Several international case studies have shown that acoustic privacy also increases individual productivity at complex tasks. The presentation concluded by indicating that healthy and sustainable design also depends on changing approaches to land use and community planning in terms of pedestrian walkways, maximized loading of infrastructure and buildings, minimized abandonment and green roof development to reduce annual cooling loads. tabs., figs.

Low-cost modular array-field designs for flat-panel and concentrator photovoltaic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Post, H. N.; Carmichael, D. C.; Alexander, G.; Castle, J. A.

1982-09-01

Described are the design and development of low-cost, modular array fields for flat-panel and concentrator photovoltaic (PV) systems. The objective of the work was to reduce substantially the cost of the array-field Balance-of-System (BOS) subsystems and site-specific design costs as compared to previous PV installations. These subsystems include site preparation, foundations, support structures, electrical writing, grounding, lightning protection, electromagnetic interference considerations, and controls. To reduce these BOS and design costs, standardized modular (building-block) designs for flat-panel and concentrator array fields have been developed that are fully integrated and optimized for lowest life-cycle costs. Using drawings and specifications now available, these building-block designs can be used in multiples to install various size array fields. The developed designs are immediately applicable (1982) and reduce the array-field BOS costs to a fraction of previous costs.

Effect of the Building Act 2011 on compliance costs in Western Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth Bazen

2014-06-01

 This research compared the cost of approval for 16 building projects under the new and old approvals processes. The research concluded that the new approvals process appears to be cost-neutral for the building industry as a whole. However, the cost of approval for the 11 building projects studied valued up to $1 million, particularly alterations to existing buildings, is an average of 4.0 times greater under the new approvals process.

Cost-Effective Integration of Efficient Low-Lift Base Load Cooling Equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Wei; Winiarski, David W.; Katipamula, Srinivas; Armstrong, Peter R.

2008-01-14

The long-term goal of DOE’s Commercial Buildings Integration subprogram is to develop cost-effective technologies and building practices that will enable the design and construction of net Zero Energy Buildings — commercial buildings that produce as much energy as they use on an annual basis — by 2025. To support this long-term goal, DOE further called for — as part of its FY07 Statement of Needs — the development by 2010 of “five cost-effective design technology option sets using highly efficient component technologies, integrated controls, improved construction practices, streamlined commissioning, maintenance and operating procedures that will make new and existing commercial buildings durable, healthy and safe for occupants.” In response, PNNL proposed and DOE funded a scoping study investigation of one such technology option set, low-lift cooling, that offers potentially exemplary HVAC energy performance relative to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004. The primary purpose of the scoping study was to estimate the national technical energy savings potential of this TOS.

Optimal Strategies for Low Carbon Supply Chain with Strategic Customer Behavior and Green Technology Investment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen Jiang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Climate change is mainly caused by excessive emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In order to reduce carbon emissions, cap and trade policy is implemented by governments in many countries, which has significant impacts on the decisions of companies at all levels of the low carbon supply chain. This paper investigates the decision-making and coordination of a low carbon supply chain consisting of a low carbon manufacturer who produces one product and is allowed to invest in green technology to reduce carbon emissions in production and a retailer who faces stochastic demands formed by homogeneous strategic customers. We investigate the optimal production, pricing, carbon trading, and green technology investment strategies of the low carbon supply chain in centralized (including Rational Expected Equilibrium scenario and quantity commitment scenario and decentralized settings. It is demonstrated that quantity commitment strategy can improve the profit of the low carbon supply chain with strategic customer behavior. We also show that the performance of decentralized supply chain is lower than that of quantity commitment scenario. We prove that the low carbon supply chain cannot be coordinated by revenue sharing contract but by revenue sharing-cost sharing contract.

Effect of the Building Act 2011 on compliance costs in Western Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth Bazen

2014-06-01

Full Text Available  The Building Act 2011 commenced in Western Australia on 2 April 2012. It introduced private certification for design and construction compliance, and reduced fees and timeframes for local governments to issue permits. This research project assessed the effect of the Act on the time and cost of building approvals in WA, using an internet-based, self-completion survey to obtain feedback from people on their experience of the new building approvals process.   This research compared the cost of approval for 16 building projects under the new and old approvals processes. The research concluded that the new approvals process appears to be cost-neutral for the building industry as a whole. However, the cost of approval for the 11 building projects studied valued up to $1 million, particularly alterations to existing buildings, is an average of 4.0 times greater under the new approvals process.

Derivation of the mass factors for decommissioning cost estimation of low contaminated auxiliary systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poskas, G.

2015-01-01

Ignalina NPP was operating two RBMK-1500 reactors. Unit 1 was closed at the end of 2004, and Unit 2 - at the end of 2009. Now they are under decommissioning. Decommissioning has been started from the reactor's periphery, with dismantling of non-contaminated and low contaminated equipment and installations. This paper discusses a methodology for derivation of mass factors for preliminary decommissioning costing at NPP when the number of inventory items is significant, and separate consideration of each inventory item is impossible or impractical for preliminary decommissioning plan, especially when the level of radioactive contamination is very low. The methodology is based on detailed data analysis of building V1 taking into account period and inventory based activities, investment and consumables and other decommissioning approach- related properties for building average mass factors. The methodology can be used for cost estimation of preliminary decommissioning planning of NPP auxiliary buildings with mostly very low level contamination. (authors)

Costs to build Fermilab in 1984 dollars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jordan, N.G.; Livdahl, P.V.

1984-02-01

It is of current interest to examine the costs incurred to date to build Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and to determine what those costs are when stated in FY 1984 constant dollars. The appended tables are in support of this exercise and are based on all costs for Equipment items (reduced by obsolescence) and all Plant Projects which have been appropriated through FY 1984. Also included are non-plant costs which are required to complete the Energy Saver, Tevatron I and II projects (i.e., Equipment and R and D in support of Construction). This study makes the assumption that all funding through FY 1984 will have been costed by the end of FY 1986. Those costs incurred in FY 1985 and FY 1986 have been deflated to FY 1984 dollars. See Appendix A for the DOE inflation factors used in the conversion to FY 1984 dollars. The costs are identified in three categories. The Accelerator Facilities include all accelerator components, the buildings which enclose them and utilities which support them. The Experimental Facilities include all beam lines, enclosures, utilities and experimental equipment which are usable in current experimental programs. The Support Facilities include lab and office space, shops, assembly facilities, roads, grounds and the utilities which do not specifically support the Accelerator or Experimental Facilities, etc

MillionTreesNYC, Green infrastructure, and urban ecology: building a research agenda

Science.gov (United States)

Jacqueline W.T. Lu; Megan Shane; Erika Svendsen; Lindsay Campbell; Cristiana Fragola; Marianne Krasny; Gina Lovasl; David Maddox; Simon McDonnell; P. Timon McPhearson; Franco Montalto; Andrew Newman; Ellen Pehek; Ruth A. Rae; Richard Stedman; Keith G. Tidball; Lynne Westphal; Tom Whitlow

2009-01-01

MillionTreesNYC is a citywide, public-private initiative with an ambitious goal: to plant and care for one million new trees across New York City's five boroughs by 2017. The Spring 2009 workshop MillionTreesNYC, Green Infrastructure, and Urban Ecology: Building a Research Agenda brought together more than 100 researchers, practitioners and New York City...

Green Building between Tradition and Modernity Study Comparative Analysis between Conventional Methods and Updated Styles of Design and Architecture Processors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H Elshimy

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Green house   concept appeared from the ancient to the modern age ages and there is a tendency to use a traditional architecture with a pristine ecological environment areas and through sophisticated systems arrived to modern systems of the upgraded systems by Treatment architectural achieve environmental   sustainability   in   recent   years,   sustainability concept has become the common interest of numerous disciplines. The reason for this popularity is to perform the sustainable development. The Concept of Green Architecture, also known as "sustainable architecture” or “green house,” is the theory, science and style of buildings designed and constructed in accordance   with environmentally   friendly   principles.   Green house strives to minimize the number of resources consumed in the   building's  construction,   use   and   operation,   as  well  as curtailing  the  harm  done  to  the  environment  through  the emission, pollution and waste of its components.To design, construct, operate and maintain buildings energy, water and new materials are utilized as well as amounts of waste causing negative effects to health and environment is generated. In order to limit these effects and design environmentally sound and resource efficient buildings; "green building systems" must be introduced, clarified, understood and practiced.This paper aims at highlighting these difficult and complex issues of sustainability which encompass the scope of almost every aspect of human life.

Cost Analysis of Simple Phase Change Material-Enhanced Building Envelopes in Southern U.S. Climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kosny, Jan [Fraunhofer CSE, Cambridge, MA (United States); Shukla, Nitin [Fraunhofer CSE, Cambridge, MA (United States); Fallahi, Ali [Fraunhofer CSE, Cambridge, MA (United States)

2013-01-01

Traditional thermal designs of building envelope assemblies are based on static energy flows, yet building envelopes are subject to varying environmental conditions. This mismatch between the steady-state principles and their dynamic operation can decrease thermal efficiency. Design work supporting the development of low-energy houses showed that conventional insulations may not always be the most cost effective solution to improvement envelope thermal performance. PCM-enhanced building envelopes that simultaneously reduce the total cooling loads and shift the peak-hour loads are the focus of this report.

Greening government procurement in developing countries: building capacity in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, Yong; Doberstein, Brent

2008-09-01

With increasing environmental issues and depleting resources, the effective application of green government procurement (GGP) is urgently needed and potentially can have greater impacts in the developing world rather than in the developed world. Such an approach can help promote the general goal of sustainable development and address environmental issues through purchasing and facilitating the use of environmentally friendly services and products. This paper addresses this issue by employing a case study on China. We first trace the development of the GGP concept, its spread to Asian countries, and a number of approaches used to expand GGP adoption. We then review current practices in China on GGP, and analyze and identify some of the current barriers and problems in promoting green procurement in the Chinese governmental sector. We finally seek to identify possible appropriate capacity-building solutions, in order to facilitate the application of GGP in China.

上海地区绿色建筑中光伏系统应用分析%Application of Photovoltaic Technology in Green Buildings in Shanghai

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

胡一东; 谭洪卫

2017-01-01

光伏发电作为未来最具潜力的可再生能源之一,在绿色建筑中的应用较少,对其现状问题与发展潜力尚缺乏系统深入的调研、分析与评价.通过对2008—2014年上海地区绿色建筑案例进行调研,梳理和分析了光伏技术在绿色建筑中的应用状况,探讨了建筑中光伏发电的技术适应性、经济性及替代率等问题,为光伏技术的推广应用提供参考.%China has been the first biggest photovoltaic market in the world, which has surpassed Germany now. Photovoltaic power is regarded as one of the most promising renewable energy in the future, but it is not widely applied in green buildings. Solar radiation conditions, building adaptability and economy are the most critical factors that affect the popularization and application of photovoltaic technology. The potential and benefit of photovoltaic building are evaluated, as well as the building adaptation and economy, which meet sustainable development of green building. But it is still lack of systematic and in-depth research, analysis and evaluation on status problems and development potential of photovoltaic technology. In this work, application status of photovoltaic technology is analyzed by surveying cases related to green buildings in Shanghai from 2008 to 2014 . The adaptability in different buildings and economy in different periods of photovoltaic technology are also discussed. The results show that firstly green buildings in Shanghai have been developed fast during 2008-2014 , but the photovoltaic technology' s application ratio in green buildings is relatively lower. Secondly, photovoltaic technology is most widely used in public buildings and partly applied in residence, accounted for 10. 71%, and no application cases in the industrial buildings even. From the perspective of building function, photovoltaic technology is mainly concentrated in the office building accounted for 71. 4%, followed by the exhibition hall and residence

Climate responsive and safe earthquake construction: a community building a school

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hari Darshan

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This article outlines environment friendly features, climate responsive features and construction features of a prototype school building constructed using green building technology. The school building has other additional features such as earthquake resistant construction, use of local materials and local technology. The construction process not only establishes community ownership, but also facilitates dissemination of the technology to the communities. Schools are effective media for raising awareness, disseminating technology and up-scaling the innovative approach. The approach is cost effective and sustainable for long-term application of green building technology. Furthermore, this paper emphasizes that such construction technology will be instrumental to build culture of safety in communities and reduce disaster risk.

Can green building councils serve as third party governance institutions? An economic and institutional analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sedlacek, Sabine; Maier, Gunther

2012-01-01

Green Building Councils (GBCs) have been established in many different countries in recent years. This paper discusses the role such organizations can play in the respective construction and real estate industry and under what circumstances a GBC can contribute positively to the development of a “greener” or “more sustainable” stock of buildings. The paper investigates the main informational problem of the industry by looking at the relation between a developer and an investor from an economic point of view. We argue that the investor's uncertainty about the true quality of a building and the corresponding incentive for the developer to cheat may lock them into a prisoners' dilemma trap. The corresponding barriers for a transition toward a “greener” buildings market are analyzed. GBCs are described as institutions of economic governance that can assist the economy in overcoming these problems. They can act as third party institutions in transactions between developers and investors. By certifying the quality of a building, they can reduce the risk for the investor to be cheated by the developer and also increase the incentive to develop good quality buildings for the developer. This task, however, raises some severe management challenges for the GBCs. - Highlights: ► We focus on Green Building Councils and their economic role. ► The paper investigates the informational problem of the sustainable building market. ► Developers and investors are locked in a prisoner's dilemma. ► Can the councils act as third party institutions to certify quality of buildings? ► Credibility and reliability are key features for third party certification.

Life cycle cost analysis of commercial buildings with energy efficient approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nilima N. Kale

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In any construction project, cost effectiveness plays a crucial role. The Life Cycle Cost (LCC analysis provides a method of determining entire cost of a structure over its expected life along with operational and maintenance cost. LCC can be improved by adopting alternative modern techniques without much alteration in the building. LCC effectiveness can be calculated at various stages of entire span of the building. Moreover this provides decision makers with the financial information necessary for maintaining, improving, and constructing facilities. Financial benefits associated with energy use can also be calculated using LCC analysis. In the present work, case study of two educational buildings has been considered. The LCC of these buildings has been calculated with existing condition and with proposed energy efficient approach (EEA using net present value method. A solar panel having minimum capacity as well as solar panel with desired capacity as per the requirements of the building has been suggested. The comparison of LCC of existing structure with proposed solar panel system shows that 4% of cost can be reduced in case of minimum capacity solar panel and 54% cost can be reduced for desired capacity solar panel system, along with other added advantages of solar energy.

Low-energy buildings on mainstream market terms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Quitzau, Maj-Britt; Elle, Morten; Hoffmann, Birgitte

2008-01-01

implementation of strict energy performance requirements in mainstream building. The paper describes how the municipality of Egedal experienced a collapse in regulation for low-energy buildings and what struggles it had to take on in order to convince the mainstream building industry and their customers......This paper looks into the challenge of actually implementing energy efficient technologies and concepts in mainstream new build. The aim of the paper is to point out some of the provisos of promoting low-energy buildings on mainstream market terms, emphasising the need to understand forces working...... against implementation of low-energy buildings. The study is based on actor-network theory, emphasising the relations and struggles that form the basis for pushing for low-energy buildings. The paper is based on a case study of the proactive attempt of a Danish municipality to force through an actual...

Strategy Guideline: Energy Retrofits for Low-Rise Multifamily Buildings in Cold Climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brozyna, K. [IBACOS, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Badger, L. [Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Burlington, VT (United States)

2013-04-01

This Strategy Guideline explains the benefits of evaluating and identifying energy efficiency retrofit measures that could be made during renovation and maintenance of multifamily buildings. It focuses on low-rise multifamily structures (three or fewer stories) in a cold climate. These benefits lie primarily in reduced energy use, lower operating and maintenance costs, improved durability of the structure, and increased occupant comfort. This guideline focuses on retrofit measures for roof repair or replacement, exterior wall repair or gut rehab, and eating system maintenance. All buildings are assumed to have a flat ceiling and a trussed roof, wood- or steel-framed exterior walls, and one or more single or staged boilers. Estimated energy savings realized from the retrofits will vary, depending on the size and condition of the building, the extent of efficiency improvements, the efficiency of the heating equipment, the cost and type of fuel, and the climate location.

Youths’ Green Information and Communications Technology Acceptance and Implications for the Innovation Decision Process

OpenAIRE

Thongmak, Mathupayas

2016-01-01

‘Green’ is the trendy word that people pay attention to it. Green ICT is currently highlighted to be an important strategic technology due to its various benefits in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, lowering electricity costs, nurturing corporate images, etc. However, the adoption of green ICT products or services is not prevalent, especially in developing countries. Green consumers, particularly young people, are the key to build the success of the green ICT adoption. Thus, applyi...

Development of an Integrated Process, Modeling and Simulation Platform for Performance-Based Design of Low-Energy and High IEQ Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yixing

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to develop a "Virtual Design Studio (VDS)": a software platform for integrated, coordinated and optimized design of green building systems with low energy consumption, high indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and high level of sustainability. The VDS is intended to assist collaborating architects,…

Cost Control Strategies for Zero Energy Buildings: High-Performance Design and Construction on a Budget (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2014-09-01

There is mounting evidence that zero energy can, in many cases, be achieved within typical construction budgets. To ensure that the momentum behind zero energy buildings and other low-energy buildings will continue to grow, this guide assembles recommendations for replicating specific successes of early adopters who have met their energy goals while controlling costs. Contents include: discussion of recommended cost control strategies, which are grouped by project phase (acquisition and delivery, design, and construction) and accompanied by industry examples; recommendations for balancing key decision-making factors; and quick reference tables that can help teams apply strategies to specific projects.

Evaluation System and Implementation Countermeasure of Automobile Green Maintenance

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Fei; Xie, Xinxin; Yan, Chaoyong

2018-01-01

Green maintenance research is in the beginning of our country, the work is being explored. Based on the existing research results at home and abroad, this paper learns and draws lessons from the experiences and lessons of foreign advanced countries and domestic advanced enterprises. In the face of the challenges brought by economic development and energy saving and emission reduction, this paper discusses the green maintenance theory and security system, And the research status of green maintenance content and system at home and abroad, through the deletion and selection of green maintenance index, through the AHP method to determine the green evaluation criteria, and the introduction of C equivalent evaluation system, the use of fuzzy synthesis Evaluation method to build a green maintenance evaluation model, and the actual validation, put forward the implementation of green maintenance feasibility programs and related security recommendations, vehicle maintenance enterprises to carry out green maintenance, improve business efficiency and reduce environmental management costs to provide theoretical basis. And to achieve effective reduction of environmental pollution, reduce maintenance costs of the target, a reasonable promotion of maintenance and environmental protection and sustainable development. Promote green maintenance from research to practice, from the laboratory to the maintenance of enterprises, from the pilot to the overall development and transformation.

Green Composites Reinforced with Plant-Based Fabrics: Cost and Eco-Impact Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgios Koronis

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This study considers a green composite under a twofold assessment; evaluating its process-based cost and environmental footprint profile. The initial objective was to project the manufacturing cost and allow for an additional material comparison of alternative scenarios in the resin transfer molding processes. The additional aim is to have an intermediate environmental assessment to assist in selecting materials and adjust manufacturing parameters which would minimize the energy spent and the CO2 emissions. As it has been noted in numerous applications, the incorporation of natural fiber fabrics, as opposed to glass fabrics, bring together weight savings and consequently cost savings. However, the economic analysis suggests that a glass reinforced composite is marginally cheaper at the production volume of 300 parts (1.9% lower cost in contrast to a possible green solution (ramie. Considering jute instead of ramie as a reinforcement, the cost gets immediately lower, and further decreases with proposed improvements to the manufacturing process. Additional reduction of up to 10% in the production cost can be achieved by process upgrade. As indicated by the Eco-Audit analysis, 36% less energy and 44% CO2 per kilo will be generated, respectively when swapping from glass to ramie fabrics in the production of the automotive hood.

Cost optimization for buildings with hybrid ventilation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Kun; Lu, Yan

2018-02-13

A method including: computing a total cost for a first zone in a building, wherein the total cost is equal to an actual energy cost of the first zone plus a thermal discomfort cost of the first zone; and heuristically optimizing the total cost to identify temperature setpoints for a mechanical heating/cooling system and a start time and an end time of the mechanical heating/cooling system, based on external weather data and occupancy data of the first zone.

Evaluating the Cost of Line Capacity Limitations in Aggregations of Commercial Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ziras, Charalampos; Delikaraoglou, Stefanos; Kazempour, Jalal

2017-01-01

-ahead optimization strategy to assess the cost of imposing capacity limitations in the total consumption of individual buildings, as well as aggregations of buildings. We show that such capacity limitations lead to an increase for the buildings operational costs, which can be interpreted as the value...... of these limitations. Based on such calculations, the aggregator can value capacity-limitation services to the distribution system operator. Moreover, the value of aggregation is also highlighted, since it leads to lower costs than imposing the same total capacity limitation on individual buildings....

Reinforcement learning for optimal control of low exergy buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Lei; Nagy, Zoltan; Goffin, Philippe; Schlueter, Arno

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Implementation of reinforcement learning control for LowEx Building systems. • Learning allows adaptation to local environment without prior knowledge. • Presentation of reinforcement learning control for real-life applications. • Discussion of the applicability for real-life situations. - Abstract: Over a third of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stem from cooling and heating buildings, due to their fossil fuel based operation. Low exergy building systems are a promising approach to reduce energy consumption as well as GHG emissions. They consists of renewable energy technologies, such as PV, PV/T and heat pumps. Since careful tuning of parameters is required, a manual setup may result in sub-optimal operation. A model predictive control approach is unnecessarily complex due to the required model identification. Therefore, in this work we present a reinforcement learning control (RLC) approach. The studied building consists of a PV/T array for solar heat and electricity generation, as well as geothermal heat pumps. We present RLC for the PV/T array, and the full building model. Two methods, Tabular Q-learning and Batch Q-learning with Memory Replay, are implemented with real building settings and actual weather conditions in a Matlab/Simulink framework. The performance is evaluated against standard rule-based control (RBC). We investigated different neural network structures and find that some outperformed RBC already during the learning phase. Overall, every RLC strategy for PV/T outperformed RBC by over 10% after the third year. Likewise, for the full building, RLC outperforms RBC in terms of meeting the heating demand, maintaining the optimal operation temperature and compensating more effectively for ground heat. This allows to reduce engineering costs associated with the setup of these systems, as well as decrease the return-of-invest period, both of which are necessary to create a sustainable, zero-emission building

Overview of Green Building Material (GBM Policies and Guidelines with Relevance to Indoor Air Quality Management in Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Tien Tsai

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper was to offer a preliminary overview of Taiwan’s success in green building material (GBM efforts through legal systems and promotion measures, which are relevant to the contribution to indoor air quality (IAQ due to sustainability and health issues. In the first part of the paper, the IAQ regulations are summarized to highlight the second nation (i.e., Taiwan around the world in IAQ management by the law. In addition, the permissible exposure limits (PEL in Taiwan for airborne hazardous substances were first promulgated in 1974 to deal with occupational health issues in the workplace environment. In the second part of the paper, the developing status of the GBM in Taiwan is analyzed to unravel its connection with the Indoor Air Quality Management Act (IAQMA, promulgated on 23 November 2011. By the end of September 2017, a total of 645 GBM labels have been conferred, covering over 5000 green products. Due to the effectiveness of source control, the healthy GBM occupies most of the market, accounting for about 75%. The IAQMA, which took force in November 2012, is expected to significantly increase the use of healthy GBM in new building construction and remodeling, especially in low formaldehyde (HCHO/volatile organic compound (VOC-emitting products.

Comparative life cycle assessment of standard and green roofs.

Science.gov (United States)

Saiz, Susana; Kennedy, Christopher; Bass, Brad; Pressnail, Kim

2006-07-01

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate the benefits, primarily from reduced energy consumption, resulting from the addition of a green roof to an eight story residential building in Madrid. Building energy use is simulated and a bottom-up LCA is conducted assuming a 50 year building life. The key property of a green roof is its low solar absorptance, which causes lower surface temperature, thereby reducing the heat flux through the roof. Savings in annual energy use are just over 1%, but summer cooling load is reduced by over 6% and reductions in peak hour cooling load in the upper floors reach 25%. By replacing the common flat roof with a green roof, environmental impacts are reduced by between 1.0 and 5.3%. Similar reductions might be achieved by using a white roof with additional insulation for winter, but more substantial reductions are achieved if common use of green roofs leads to reductions in the urban heat island.

Building Construction Progress Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial System (uas), Low-Cost Photogrammetry, and Geographic Information System (gis)

Science.gov (United States)

Bognot, J. R.; Candido, C. G.; Blanco, A. C.; Montelibano, J. R. Y.

2018-05-01

Monitoring the progress of building's construction is critical in construction management. However, measuring the building construction's progress are still manual, time consuming, error prone, and impose tedious process of analysis leading to delays, additional costings and effort. The main goal of this research is to develop a methodology for building construction progress monitoring based on 3D as-built model of the building from unmanned aerial system (UAS) images, 4D as-planned model (with construction schedule integrated) and, GIS analysis. Monitoring was done by capturing videos of the building with a camera-equipped UAS. Still images were extracted, filtered, bundle-adjusted, and 3D as-built model was generated using open source photogrammetric software. The as-planned model was generated from digitized CAD drawings using GIS. The 3D as-built model was aligned with the 4D as-planned model of building formed from extrusion of building elements, and integration of the construction's planned schedule. The construction progress is visualized via color-coding the building elements in the 3D model. The developed methodology was conducted and applied from the data obtained from an actual construction site. Accuracy in detecting `built' or `not built' building elements ranges from 82-84 % and precision of 50-72 %. Quantified progress in terms of the number of building elements are 21.31% (November 2016), 26.84 % (January 2017) and 44.19 % (March 2017). The results can be used as an input for progress monitoring performance of construction projects and improving related decision-making process.

Barriers to Building Energy Efficiency (BEE) promotion: A transaction costs perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Qian Kun, Queena

Worldwide, buildings account for a surprisingly high 40% of global energy consumption, and the resulting carbon footprint significantly exceeds that of all forms of transportation combined. Large and attractive opportunities exist to reduce buildings' energy use at lower costs and higher returns than in other sectors. This thesis analyzes the concerns of the market stakeholders, mainly real estate developers and end-users, in terms of transaction costs as they make decisions about investing in Building Energy Efficiency (BEE). It provides a detailed analysis of the current situation and future prospects for BEE adoption by the market's stakeholders. It delineates the market and lays out the economic and institutional barriers to the large-scale deployment of energy-efficient building techniques. The aim of this research is to investigate the barriers raised by transaction costs that hinder market stakeholders from investing in BEES. It explains interactions among stakeholders in general and in the specific case of Hong Kong as they consider transaction costs. It focuses on the influence of transaction costs on the decision-making of the stakeholders during the entire process of real estate development. The objectives are: 1) To establish an analytical framework for understanding the barriers to BEE investment with consideration of transaction costs; 2) To build a theoretical game model of decision making among the BEE market stakeholders; 3) To study the empirical data from questionnaire surveys of building designers and from focused interviews with real estate developers in Hong Kong; 4) To triangulate the study's empirical findings with those of the theoretical model and analytical framework. The study shows that a coherent institutional framework needs to be established to ensure that the design and implementation of BEE policies acknowledge the concerns of market stakeholders by taking transaction costs into consideration. Regulatory and incentive options

Reducing Building HVAC Costs with Site-Recovery Energy

Science.gov (United States)

Pargeter, Stephen J.

2012-01-01

Building owners are caught between two powerful forces--the need to lower energy costs and the need to meet or exceed outdoor air ventilation regulations for occupant health and comfort. Large amounts of energy are wasted each day from commercial, institutional, and government building sites as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)…

Digital Image Quantitative Evaluations for Low Cost Film Digitizers Height Determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khairul Anuar Mohd Salleh; Arshad Yassin; Ahmad Nasir Yusof; Noorhazleena Azaman

2016-01-01

Non Destructive Testing (NDT) technology contributes significant improvement to the quality of industrial products, and the integrity of equipment and plants. Introduction of powerful computers and reliable imaging technology has had significant impact on the traditional nuclear based NDT technology. Demand for faster, reliable, low cost, and flexible technology is rapidly increased. With the growing demand for more efficient digital archiving, digital image analysis, and reporting results with a low cost technology, one cannot deny the importance of having another cheaper solution. This project will apply fundamental principle of image digitization to be used in building up a low cost film digitization solution. The height of the film digitization was carefully determined by examining each digital images produced. Three (3) repetitive quantitative evaluations (Modulation Transfer Function [MTF], Characteristic Transfer Curve [CTC], and Contrast to Noise Ratio [CNR]) were performed at different condition to assist with the determination of the low cost film digitizers height. All 3 evaluations were successfully applied and the most appropriate height was successfully determined. (author)

Comparing Value of Urban Green Space Using Contingent Valuation and Travel Cost Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Chintantya, Dea; Maryono

2018-02-01

Green urban open space are an important element of the city. They gives multiple benefits for social life, human health, biodiversity, air quality, carbon sequestration, and water management. Travel Cost Method (TCM) and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) are the most frequently used method in various studies that assess environmental good and services in monetary term for valuing urban green space. Both of those method are determined the value of urban green space through willingness to pay (WTP) for ecosystem benefit and collected data through direct interview and questionnaire. Findings of this study showed the weaknesses and strengths of both methods for valuing urban green space and provided factors influencing the probability of user's willingness to pay in each method.

Synthesis and characterization of low cost magnetorheological (MR) fluids

Science.gov (United States)

Sukhwani, V. K.; Hirani, H.

2007-04-01

Magnetorheological fluids have great potential for engineering applications due to their variable rheological behavior. These fluids find applications in dampers, brakes, shock absorbers, and engine mounts. However their relatively high cost (approximately US600 per liter) limits their wide usage. Most commonly used magnetic material "Carbonyl iron" cost more than 90% of the MR fluid cost. Therefore for commercial viability of these fluids there is need of alternative economical magnetic material. In the present work synthesis of MR fluid has been attempted with objective to produce low cost MR fluid with high sedimentation stability and greater yield stress. In order to reduce the cost, economical electrolytic Iron powder (US 10 per Kg) has been used. Iron powder of relatively larger size (300 Mesh) has been ball milled to reduce their size to few microns (1 to 10 microns). Three different compositions have been prepared and compared for MR effect produced and stability. All have same base fluid (Synthetic oil) and same magnetic phase i.e. Iron particles but they have different additives. First preparation involves organic additives Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Stearic acid. Other two preparations involve use of two environmental friendly low-priced green additives guar gum (US 2 per Kg) and xanthan gum (US 12 per Kg) respectively. Magnetic properties of Iron particles have been measured by Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Morphology of Iron particles and additives guar gum and xanthan gum has been examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Particles Size Distribution (PSD) has been determined using Particle size analyzer. Microscopic images of particles, MH plots and stability of synthesized MR fluids have been reported. The prepared low cost MR fluids showed promising performance and can be effectively used for engineering applications demanding controllability in operations.

A green roof grant program for Washington DC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, P.A.

2007-01-01

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) began its green roof demonstration project with $300,000 in funding provided by the DC Water and Sewer Authority. This paper reviewed the history of the project, its goals and early findings. The main objective was to demonstrate the technical, policy and economic feasibility of installing green roofs on commercial buildings in Washington DC and to promote green roofs as a means to manage storm water and improve water quality through the reduction of excessive runoff. The CBF has issued grants for the installation of 7 green roofs varying in size, design, location, and use. The projects included both new and existing structures designed to improve storm-water management in an urban area with significant pollution stress on the adjacent rivers. This paper provided technical, cost, and performance evaluations of each roof. A public outreach segment provided information to decision-makers to encourage more widespread replication of green roof technology throughout the metropolitan area. Much of the District of Columbia is served by a combined sewer system that becomes overloaded and discharges raw sewage into adjacent rivers during even moderately heavy rains. An average of 75 overflow events each year result in 1.5 billion gallons discharged into the Anacostia River. The installation of green roofs on buildings in the combined sewer area would retain storm water during these heavy rains and reduce the amount of overflow discharges. Apartments, as well as commercial and government buildings with mostly flat roofs are the most likely candidates for green roofs. The demonstration roofs are intended to become models, which all building owners could use as a guide for future plans for construction or re-construction to expand green roof coverage in Washington DC. It was emphasized that although such large-scale replication will take time and financial investments, it is achievable given enough political will and commercial awareness of

Building Cost and Performance Metrics: Data Collection Protocol, Revision 1.0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fowler, Kimberly M.; Solana, Amy E.; Spees, Kathleen L.

2005-09-29

This technical report describes the process for selecting and applying the building cost and performance metrics for measuring sustainably designed buildings in comparison to traditionally designed buildings.

Cost and code study of underground building: a report to the Minnesota Energy Agency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sterling, R L

1979-11-01

The rapidly intensifying interest in the possible energy savings and environmental and land-use benefits associated with underground buildings has led increasing numbers of people to question restrictions that existing building codes place on underground construction and to make cost comparisons between underground structures and more-conventional buildings. Information in this report on earth-sheltered houses covers public policy issues (building code restrictions, taxation, insurance) and residential construction costs (cost breakdowns, general factors affecting costs, and life-cycle costs). The report also deals with regulatory and insurance issues (building codes, fire protection, insurance provisions) and construction costs for large underground buildings. The report recommends that: (1) the Minnesota Energy Agency consult with the Building Code Division of the Department of Administration on HUD Minimum Property Standards to examine the possibility of modifying several building-code requirements that affect earth-sheltered housing design; (2) HUD Minimum Property Standards be brought into line with the major building codes on the question of optional mechanical ventilation in houses; (3) model ordinances concerning setbacks, basement house provisions, and minimum square footage provisions to be drafted; (4) legal questions concerning the separation of ownership of the surface from that subsurface space be resolved; (5) questions concerning taxation of mined space be resolved; and (6) a life-cost inventory of underground residences and buildings in Minnesota be compiled.

Cost-optimal energy performance renovation measures of educational buildings in cold climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niemelä, Tuomo; Kosonen, Risto; Jokisalo, Juha

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The proposed national nZEB target can be cost-effectively achieved in renovations. • Energy saving potential of HVAC systems is significant compared to the building envelope. • Modern renewable energy production technologies are cost-efficient and recommendable. • Improving the indoor climate conditions in deep renovations is recommendable. • Simulation-based optimization method is efficient in building performance analyzes. - Abstract: The paper discusses cost-efficient energy performance renovation measures for typical educational buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s in cold climate regions. The study analyzes the impact of different energy renovation measures on the energy efficiency and economic viability in a Finnish case study educational building located in Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) campus area. The main objective of the study was to determine the cost-optimal energy performance renovation measures to meet the proposed national nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) requirements, which are defined according to the primary energy consumption of buildings. The main research method of the study was simulation-based optimization (SBO) analysis, which was used to determine the cost-optimal renovation solutions. The results of the study indicate that the minimum national energy performance requirement of new educational buildings (E_p_r_i_m_a_r_y ⩽ 170 kWh/(m"2,a)) can be cost-effectively achieved in deep renovations of educational buildings. In addition, the proposed national nZEB-targets are also well achievable, while improving the indoor climate (thermal comfort and indoor air quality) conditions significantly at the same time. Cost-effective solutions included renovation of the original ventilation system, a ground source heat pump system with relatively small dimensioning power output, new energy efficient windows and a relatively large area of PV-panels for solar-based electricity production. The results and

Earthquake recovery of historic buildings: exploring cost and time needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Nammari, Fatima M; Lindell, Michael K

2009-07-01

Disaster recovery of historic buildings has rarely been investigated even though the available literature indicates that they face special challenges. This study examines buildings' recovery time and cost to determine whether their functions (that is, their use) and their status (historic or non-historic) affect these outcomes. The study uses data from the city of San Francisco after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake to examine the recovery of historic buildings owned by public agencies and non-governmental organisations. The results show that recovery cost is affected by damage level, construction type and historic status, whereas recovery time is affected by the same variables and also by building function. The study points to the importance of pre-incident recovery planning, especially for building functions that have shown delayed recovery. Also, the study calls attention to the importance of further investigations into the challenges facing historic building recovery.

Connected, low-cost point-of-care diagnostics for rural South African clinics

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Smith, Suzanne

2017-10-01

Full Text Available sensors, Paper-based sensors, Radio frequency identification, Point-of-care diagnostics INTRODUCTION Data connectivity is an imperative consideration in the development of new POC diagnostic devices, particularly in the developing world [1... healthcare information standards. A low-cost color detector was implemented for use with existing lateral flow devices (LFDs) utilizing an RFID sensing chip (SL900A-DK-STQFN16, ams, Aus- tria), green light-emitting diode (LED), and photodetector (SFH...

Low cost bare-plate solar air collector

Science.gov (United States)

Maag, W. L.; Wenzler, C. J.; Rom, F. E.; Vanarsdale, D. R.

1980-09-01

A low cost, bare plate solar collector for preheating ambient air was developed. This type of solar heating system would be applicable for preheating ventilation air for public buildings or other commercial and industrial ventilation requirements. Two prototype collectors were designed, fabricated and installed into an instrumented test system. Tests were conducted for a period of five months. Results of the tests showed consistent operating efficiencies of 60 percent or greater with air preheat temperature uses up to 20 degrees for one of the prototypes. The economic analyses indicated that this type of solar system was economically viable. For the materials of construction and the type of fabrication and installation perceived, costs for the bare plate solar collector are attainable. Applications for preheating ventilation air for schools were evaluated and judged to be economically viable.

Sheffield's Green Roof Forum: a multi-stranded programme of green roof infrastructure development for the UK's greenest city

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunnett, N.

2006-01-01

Sheffield, United Kingdom (UK) was the world centre for the steel and cutlery industries. However, those industries have been in decline and the city has been in the process of re-inventing itself over the past 20 years. Sheffield is now known as the UK's greenest city in terms of the amount of woodland, parkland and open spaces within its city limits. The city of Sheffield has also developed a unique partnership approach to promote green roof infrastructure as the most visible and high-profile signal of intent and symbol of low environmental impact building design and construction. This partnership involves Sheffield's Green Roof Forum, comprising the University of Sheffield's multi-disciplinary centre of excellence in green roof research; Sheffield City Council; Groundwork Sheffield, an urban economic and environmental regeneration agency; and city Architects and developers. This partnership meets six times a year to raise the profile of green roofs within the city and region, and to develop strategies to increase the uptake and implementation of green roof infrastructure in the region. This paper discussed the partnership, the Green Room Forum, accomplishments to date in promoting green roofs in the city, and the strategy for the Sheffield region to become a leader in green roof implementation and associated green technologies. The strategy is presented in two parts: consultation and research to identify the nature of market failure and devising methods to overcome that failure. The green roof strategy is being implemented through a program entitled Building Greener, Building Smarter and consists of four inter-linked strands. These strands were discussed in detail and included getting buy-in, demonstrating benefit, establishing the business case, and changing plans and practices. 3 tabs., 1 ref