Sustainable building organisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schmid, P.

1998-01-01

Sustainable Development and Sustainable Building is mainly a question of (human) environmentally-conscious Organisation and Management Criteria are needed in order to capture the best practices in the field. Therefore we developed modells and methods, which help to choose the most adequate

Intelligent Buildings: Key to Achieving Total Sustainability in the Built Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tulika Gadakari

2014-01-01

Full Text Available ‘Are intelligent buildings a pragmatic approach towards achieving a sustainable built environment?’ is the research question that this review article aims to answer. It has been argued that there is a serious need for intelligent buildings to be evaluated against the parameters of total sustainability (environmental, economic and social so as to help the agenda of living in a technologically advanced, healthy and comfortable world. This paper reviews existing theoretical concepts of intelligence and sustainability in the built environment, through an exploration of various scientific literature and U.S Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design databases. A systematic qualitative review approach has been employed to select an appropriate definition of sustainable development and use it as a theoretical framework to assess the technological impact of intelligent buildings on the environmental, economic and social front. Subsequently five case study buildings from around the world, which exemplify the use of intelligent technologies to achieve sustainable gains were chosen and analyzed to further validate the literature findings. Outputs from the study highlight the various benefits of intelligent buildings, which include decrease in energy and water consumption, operational costs, as well as increase in productivity and investments. Additionally the analysis of the case studies revealed that the use of intelligent building technologies has contributed significantly towards a higher sustainability rating on the LEED rating scale. Moreover, the comparison of the attributes of intelligent buildings and sustainable practices in buildings, illustrates the fact that there is a considerable overlap between the two and intelligence can aid sustainability in the built environment. Thus the research suggests that green technologies and intelligence in combination may be a pragmatic approach towards the sustainability

KAJIAN SUSTAINABLE DESIGN PADA SAVILL BUILDING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oktavi Elok Hapsari

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Since 1980 the development of Indonesian architecture design start to leads into sustainable architectural design which as it was expected to became a solution regarding the environmental problems. The implementation of sustainable design in buildings can be applied from the buildings typologi, renewable resources on materials untill the reduction of the negative impact againts the buildings surrounding environment. As the main object for this study was 2006 The Woods Awardee, Savill Building. A literature study was conducted related to sustainable concept design and the implementation in Savill Buildings. Savill Building is a transparance walls buildings with steel and wooden as main materials on it complex curve gridshell structures. Located in a countoured site Savill Building show it assertive appearance. Due to the good landscape processing and design the Savill Building stood out and yet still shown continuity and harmony with the surrounding environment. The buildings not only has a eco-friendly public facility function, but also has the capability on attracting visitors. In the end this study is expected able expand the knowledges on sustainable design and become a design references in Indonesia architectural design.

Sustainable Building Life Cycle Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ginzburg Alexander

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The current building life cycle management system in the Russian Federation is a family of discrete subsystems that exist independently for different building life cycle stages. In this situation building reliability and sustainable functioning are out of the question. The implementation of a united information model (BIM-model intended to describe building entire life cycle will allow to raise the sustainability, but this will happen only if goals and concerns of all participants of the project process are properly coordinated. An important figure of process sustainability is the organizational and technological reliability (OTR that describes the possibility of a system to reach a goal. In case of building life cycle design, the economical efficiency of a building can be considered as the goal. The required technical, ecological, organizational, and other parameters form a complex of constraints that determine the area of allowable values for building functioning. In its broad meaning, OTR may be understood as the probability of receiving an economical effect based on the value of organizational and economical reliability (OER.

Activity-Tracking Service for Building Operating Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hviid, Jakob; Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun

2018-01-01

of Things sensors and devices promise to deliver rich data about human activities and control of loads. However, existing proposals for building operating systems that should combine such data and control opportunities does not provide concepts and support for activity data. In this paper we propose...... an activity-tracking service for building operating systems. The service is designed to consider the security, privacy, integration, extendability and scalability challenges in the building setting. We provide initial findings for testing the system in a proof of concept evaluation using a set of common......Several high consuming electricity loads in retail stores are currently highly intertwined in human activities. Without knowledge of such activities it is difficult to improve the energy efficiency of the loads operation for sustainability and cost reasons. The increasing availability of Internet...

Sustainable Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tommerup, Henrik M.; Elle, Morten

The scientific community agrees that: all countries must drastically and rapidly reduce their CO2 emissions and that energy efficient houses play a decisive role in this. The general attitude at the workshop on Sustainable Buildings was that we face large and serious climate change problems...

Assessing sustainability of building materials in developing countries: the sustainable building materials index (SBMI)

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Gibberd, Jeremy T

2014-10-01

Full Text Available performance. This paper reviews a selection of sustainability assessment and reporting methodologies in order understand the applicability of existing systems as a means of measuring sustainability of building materials in developing countries. The review...

Capacity building for sustainable energy development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogner, Hans-Holger

2006-01-01

Capacity Building for Sustainable Energy Development - Mission: To build capacity in Member States (MS) for comprehensive energy system, economic and environmental analyses to assist in: - making informed policy decisions for sustainable energy development; - assessing the role of nuclear power; - understanding environmental and climate change issues related to energy production and use

A model for the sustainable selection of building envelope assemblies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huedo, Patricia, E-mail: huedo@uji.es [Universitat Jaume I (Spain); Mulet, Elena, E-mail: emulet@uji.es [Universitat Jaume I (Spain); López-Mesa, Belinda, E-mail: belinda@unizar.es [Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain)

2016-02-15

The aim of this article is to define an evaluation model for the environmental impacts of building envelopes to support planners in the early phases of materials selection. The model is intended to estimate environmental impacts for different combinations of building envelope assemblies based on scientifically recognised sustainability indicators. These indicators will increase the amount of information that existing catalogues show to support planners in the selection of building assemblies. To define the model, first the environmental indicators were selected based on the specific aims of the intended sustainability assessment. Then, a simplified LCA methodology was developed to estimate the impacts applicable to three types of dwellings considering different envelope assemblies, building orientations and climate zones. This methodology takes into account the manufacturing, installation, maintenance and use phases of the building. Finally, the model was validated and a matrix in Excel was created as implementation of the model. - Highlights: • Method to assess the envelope impacts based on a simplified LCA • To be used at an earlier phase than the existing methods in a simple way. • It assigns a score by means of known sustainability indicators. • It estimates data about the embodied and operating environmental impacts. • It compares the investment costs with the costs of the consumed energy.

A model for the sustainable selection of building envelope assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huedo, Patricia; Mulet, Elena; López-Mesa, Belinda

2016-01-01

The aim of this article is to define an evaluation model for the environmental impacts of building envelopes to support planners in the early phases of materials selection. The model is intended to estimate environmental impacts for different combinations of building envelope assemblies based on scientifically recognised sustainability indicators. These indicators will increase the amount of information that existing catalogues show to support planners in the selection of building assemblies. To define the model, first the environmental indicators were selected based on the specific aims of the intended sustainability assessment. Then, a simplified LCA methodology was developed to estimate the impacts applicable to three types of dwellings considering different envelope assemblies, building orientations and climate zones. This methodology takes into account the manufacturing, installation, maintenance and use phases of the building. Finally, the model was validated and a matrix in Excel was created as implementation of the model. - Highlights: • Method to assess the envelope impacts based on a simplified LCA • To be used at an earlier phase than the existing methods in a simple way. • It assigns a score by means of known sustainability indicators. • It estimates data about the embodied and operating environmental impacts. • It compares the investment costs with the costs of the consumed energy.

Business Management in Sustainable Buildings: Ankara-Turkey Case

Science.gov (United States)

Kutay Karaca, Neşet; Burcu Gültekin, Arzuhan

2017-10-01

The concept of the sustainability is described as efficiently and effectively consuming of exhaustible and recyclable sources of the world. A sustainable building implements sustainability criteria in its life cycle, and business management is the process by which an organization uses its resources in the most efficient way to reach its goal. From the beginning, sustainable building proves their differences from the conventional buildings. Sustainable buildings are resource-efficient and environmentally responsible structures in terms of energy consumption, construction principles, siting, renovation and maintenance throughout its life cycle while conventional buildings are more traditional in these matters. The differences are observable especially in costs and expenditures. It is possible and feasible to compare and contrast the design, construction and management costs of both types of structures. Thence, contributions of sustainable buildings are priced favourably in terms of ecological and sociological aspects. In this context, a prospective projection can be made considering the extra costs of sustainable structures, as well as the consumption profits due to the use of less energy than conventional construction. Considering this, it is possible to project consumption savings in long term. By calculating a forward-looking net cash flow projection, it can be forecasted how much time it will take to cover the extra cost. When making decisions, investors always contemplate maximum profitability. Within the scope of this study, costs of sustainable and conventional buildings will be compared and contrasted through precedence of a sustainable building certificated and non-certificated building. It will be analysed in which time period the initial cost difference between them will be compensated totally and partially. Furthermore, an efficiency analyses will be done in the scope of the necessities and expenses of these businesses.

Building performance simulation for sustainable building design and operation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hensen, J.L.M.

2011-01-01

This paper aims to provide a general view of the background and current state of building performance simulation, which has the potential to deliver, directly or indirectly, substantial benefits to building stakeholders and to the environment. However the building simulation community faces many

Radical Sustainable Innovation of office buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Christian; Berker, Thomas; Koch-Ørvad, Nina

2017-01-01

by high degrees of newness in the entire life cycle. RSI should offer significant enhancements of known benefits, entirely new benefits, or substantial cost reductions, leading to the transformation of existing markets, the creation of sustainable growth, and global sustainability. Thus, if buildings were....../could be radically new. How to evaluate radicality is a major challenge. It is tentatively proposed, to use standards for sustainable office buildings. Standards are developed to accelerate the sustainable development but has to some extent come to constrain possibilities of radical innovation. As the criteria...... of newness is incorporated in standards, going beyond them, could be viewed as radical. Empirically a selection of international cases of office buildings with very high scores of BREEAM, LEED and DGNB are examined. Six selected cases were analysed more in detail, one of them, Geelens...

Environmental Sustainability and Mold Hygiene in Buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Haoxiang; Ng, Tsz Wai; Wong, Jonathan Wc; Lai, Ka Man

2018-04-04

Environmental sustainability is one of the key issues in building management. In Hong Kong, one of the initiatives is to reduce the operation hours of air-conditioning in buildings to cut down energy consumption. In this study, we reported a mold contamination case in a newly refurbished laboratory, in which the air-conditioner was switched from 24- to 18-h mode after refurbishment. In order to prevent mold recurrence, the air-conditioner was switched back to 24-h mode in the laboratory. During the mold investigation, visible mold patches in the laboratory were searched and then cultured, counted and identified. Building and environmental conditions were recorded, and used to deduce different causes of mold contamination. Eight contaminated sites including a wall, a bench, some metal and plastic surfaces and seven types of molds including two Cladosporium spp., two Aspergillus spp., one Rhizopus sp., one Trichoderma sp., and one Tritirachium sp. were identified. Cladosporium spp. were the most abundant and frequently found molds in the laboratory. The contaminated areas could have one to five different species on them. Based on the mold and environmental conditions, several scenarios causing the mold contamination were deduced, and different mold control measures were discussed to compare them with the current solution of using 24-h air-conditioning to control mold growth. This study highlights the importance of mold hygiene in sustainable building management.

Environmental Sustainability and Mold Hygiene in Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haoxiang Wu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Environmental sustainability is one of the key issues in building management. In Hong Kong, one of the initiatives is to reduce the operation hours of air-conditioning in buildings to cut down energy consumption. In this study, we reported a mold contamination case in a newly refurbished laboratory, in which the air-conditioner was switched from 24- to 18-h mode after refurbishment. In order to prevent mold recurrence, the air-conditioner was switched back to 24-h mode in the laboratory. During the mold investigation, visible mold patches in the laboratory were searched and then cultured, counted and identified. Building and environmental conditions were recorded, and used to deduce different causes of mold contamination. Eight contaminated sites including a wall, a bench, some metal and plastic surfaces and seven types of molds including two Cladosporium spp., two Aspergillus spp., one Rhizopus sp., one Trichoderma sp., and one Tritirachium sp. were identified. Cladosporium spp. were the most abundant and frequently found molds in the laboratory. The contaminated areas could have one to five different species on them. Based on the mold and environmental conditions, several scenarios causing the mold contamination were deduced, and different mold control measures were discussed to compare them with the current solution of using 24-h air-conditioning to control mold growth. This study highlights the importance of mold hygiene in sustainable building management.

The Development of a Tool for Sustainable Building Design:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tine Ring Hansen, Hanne; Knudstrup, Mary-Ann

2009-01-01

for sustainable buildings, as well as, an analysis of the relationship between the different approaches (e.g. low-energy, environmental, green building, solar architecture, bio-climatic architecture etc.) to sustainable building design and these indicators. The paper furthermore discusses how sustainable......The understanding of sustainable building has changed over time along with the architectural interpretation of sustainability. The paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of the indicators found in different internationally acclaimed and Danish certification schemes and standards...... architecture will gain more focus in the coming years, thus, establishing the need for the development of a new tool and methodology, The paper furthermore describes the background and considerations involved in the development of a design support tool for sustainable building design. A tool which considers...

Sustainability in Energy and Buildings : Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference in Sustainability in Energy and Buildings

CERN Document Server

Namaane, Aziz; Howlett, Robert; Jain, Lakhmi

2012-01-01

Welcome to the proceedings of the Third International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SEB’11, held in Marseilles in France, organised by the Laboratoire des Sciences del'Information et des Systèmes (LSIS) in Marseille, France in partnership with KES International.   SEB'11 formed a welcome opportunity for researchers in subjects related to sustainability, renewable energy technology, and applications in the built environment to mix with other scientists, industrialists and stakeholders in the field.   The conference featured presentations on a range of renewable energy and sustainability related topics. In addition the conference explored two innovative themes: - the application of intelligent sensing, control, optimisation and modelling techniques to sustainability and - the technology of sustainable buildings.  These two themes combine synergetically to address issues relating to The Intelligent Building.   SEB’11 attracted a significant number of submissions from around the w...

Ecological modernization of sustainable buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Ole; Gram-Hanssen, Kirsten

2008-01-01

This article will examine how the contemporary development of sustainable buildings has been influenced by the concept of ecological modernisation. Ecological modernisation is a policy concept describing how environmental considerations are increasingly being integrated into modern society...... driven by enthusiasts and grassroots to being a more widespread, generally obtainable and integrated product. We will discuss to what degree this can be understood within the ideas of ecological modernisation, and then discuss the benefits and drawbacks of this development. Based on the concepts...... of governance, standardisation and visibility, the conclusion is that in many ways ecological modernisation has penetrated in Danish sustainable buildings and has contributed to a positive development. However, there are aspects of sustainable consumption that this development does not relate to, including...

Significance of Building Maintenance Management Systems towards Sustainable Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.A. Othuman Mydin

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Building maintenance management is an organized and effective system of maintenance operations which is set up to deal with problems related to the upkeep of a building. Its goal, aside from locating and remedying a building’s deficiencies, is to effectively minimize the overall costs of maintenance and is also an effort to maximize the gain and benefits from the savings. There are a few factors that influence decisions to undertake maintenance work. The principal goal of maintenance is to protect a building in the early stage of issues as they arise. Some major reasons for maintaining a building include retaining its reputation and value of investments, maintaining the building in a condition which allows it to accomplish its purpose, and presenting a good outer shell. This paper will review and discuss some of the major elements of building maintenance towards achieving sustainable buildings.

Workshops in Dutch sustainable building design practice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeiler, W.; Quanjel, E.M.C.J.; Borsboom, W.A.

2009-01-01

Within the present context of the Dutch Sustainable Building Practice it is hard for the different involved building design disciplines to give a good answer to sustainability. Especially this is the case for the application solar energy either in passive or active form. As traditional methods did

The Building sector commitment to promote the sustainability of construction products: a common European approach for the Environmental Product Performances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caterina Gargari

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The industry of construction products plays an important role in Europe in promoting the sustainability of the built environment in a life cycle perspective. Within the framework of the European initiatives for a sustainable competitiveness, manufacturers are interested in promoting a life cycle approach along the building chain. However both, institutions and building operators, in general still have to go a long way on designing and applying a sustainable and competitive industrial policy. This paper aims to describe the European background, the regulatory framework, identifying gaps and the actions to be undertaken to promote a market for sustainable products and sustainable buildings. In particular this paper deals with the assessment and communication of the environmental performance of construction products between the operators in the building chain, as a prerequisite for the sustainability of the built environment, and outlines the strategies to implement a proper evaluation and communication process.

Integrated sustainable urban infrastructures in building projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Quitzau, Maj-Britt; Elle, Morten

2007-01-01

Current strategies in urban planning and development merely promote standardized building solutions, while failing to prioritize innovative approaches of integration between building projects and sustainable urban infrastructures. As a result of this, urban infrastructures – the urban veins...... – are outdated from a sustainability perspective. This paper looks into more holistic ways of approaching building projects and discuss whether this provide a basis for an increased integration of urban infrastructures within building projects. In our study, we especially emphasise how conventional ways...... of approaching building projects are influenced by lock-in of existing infrastructural systems and compare this with two examples of more holistic ways of approaching building projects, developed by two architecture firms. The paper points out that such holistic perspective in building projects provide...

Sustainability in the existing building stock

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elle, Morten; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Hoffmann, Birgitte

2005-01-01

, QRWfacilities management’s most important contribution to sustainable development in the built environment. Space management is an essential tool in facilities management – and it could be considered a powerful tool in sustainable development; remembering that the building not being built is perhaps the most......This paper explores the role of Facilities Management in the relation to sustainable development in the existing building stock. Facilities management is a concept still developing as the management of buildings are becoming more and more professional. Many recognize today that facilities...... management is a concept relevant to others than large companies. Managing the flows of energy and other resources is a part of facilities management, and an increased professionalism could lead to the reduction of the use of energy and water and the generation of waste and wastewater. This is, however...

The importance of ergonomics to sustainability throughout a building's life cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Linda; Dorsey, Julie; Jacobs, Karen

2012-01-01

Protecting and conserving environmental resources is a global concern. Over the past decade, a number of certification processes have emerged to help designers and operators of buildings assess the potential impact of a building on the environment. Certifications such as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) consider the environmental impact through the lifecycle of a building, but may not be considering the people that construct and utilize it. It is important to remember the human factor. Considering the human factor throughout the lifecycle is crucial to ensure individuals are protected during construction and in operation in the built environment. The paper highlights how ergonomics can be integrated into the life cycle of a building to promote sustainability goals for both the human factor and the environment. A case study approach will be used to illustrate how ergonomics was integrated into a LEED renovation and expanded into its daily operations on a large university campus..

4th international conference in sustainability in energy and buildings

CERN Document Server

Höjer, Mattias; Howlett, Robert; Jain, Lakhmi

2013-01-01

This volume contains the proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SEB12, held in Stockholm, Sweden, and is organised by KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden in partnership with KES International. The International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings focuses on a broad range of topics relating to sustainability in buildings but also encompassing energy sustainability more widely. Following the success of earlier events in the series, the 2012 conference includes the themes Sustainability, Energy, and Buildings and Information and Communication Technology, ICT. The SEB’12 proceedings includes invited participation and paper submissions across a broad range of renewable energy and sustainability-related topics relevant to the main theme of Sustainability in Energy and Buildings. Applicable areas include technology for renewable energy and sustainability in the built environment, optimisation and modeling techniques, informati...

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 energetic concept in the administration building of the Federal Environmental Agency in Dessau. Technical innovation for a sustainable operation; Das energetische Konzept im Dienstgebaeude des Umweltbundesamtes in Dessau. Technische Innovationen fuer einen nachhaltigen Betrieb

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

The new office building of the Federal Environmental Agency (Dessau-Rosslau, Federal Republic of Germany) was implemented as a pilot project for environmentally sustainable construction with high-energy targets. In order to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels significantly, the building should have a very low power consumption and enable a sustainable operation. A mostly compact form of the building and a highly insulated building envelope are a first prerequisite.

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...

Sustainability in energy and buildings. Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

M' Sirdi, Nacer; Namaane, Aziz [LSIS Laboratory of Systems and Information Sciences, Marseilles (France); Howlett, Robert J. [KES International, Shoreham-by-Sea (United Kingdom); Jain, Lakhmi C. (eds.) [South Australia Univ., Adelaide, SA (Australia). School of Electrical and Information Engineering

2012-07-01

Welcome to the proceedings of the Third International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SEB'11, held in Marseilles in France, organised by the Laboratoire des Sciences del'Information et des Systemes (LSIS) in Marseille, France in partnership with KES International. SEB'11 formed a welcome opportunity for researchers in subjects related to sustainability, renewable energy technology, and applications in the built environment to mix with other scientists, industrialists and stakeholders in the field. The conference featured presentations on a range of renewable energy and sustainability related topics. In addition the conference explored two innovative themes: - the application of intelligent sensing, control, optimisation and modelling techniques to sustainability and - the technology of sustainable buildings. These two themes combine synergetically to address issues relating to The Intelligent Building. SEB'11 attracted a significant number of submissions from around the world. These were subjected to a two-stage blind peer-review process. With the objective of producing a high-quality conference, only the best 50 or so of these were selected for presentation at the conference and publication in the proceedings. It is hoped that you will find this volume an interesting, informative and useful resource for your 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)

Towards a Tectonic Sustainable Building Practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech-Danielsen, Claus

and environmental problems? The objective of the project is to analyse and develop the tectonic practice based on case studies, in relation to: • Cultural anchoring and identity creation • Building culture and creative processes • Sustainability, lifecycle and resource management The research project is divided...... into a main project and various subprojects, respectively, two levels that mutually feed each other.The main project, which constitutes the general level, seeks to identify a coherent strategy towards a new tectonically sustainable building culture.The subprojects look at partial issues and go into specific......Can a tectonic building practice be strengthened through new creation processes, where resources are used more purposefully, deliberately and systematically? Which new measures are necessary if we are to develop a strong tectonic building practice with due consideration for increasing climate...

Building Trust-Based Sustainable Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-05

entities to build sustainable networks with limited resources or misbehaving entities by learning from the lessons in the social sciences. We discuss...their individuality); and ■ Misbehaving nodes in terms of environmental, economic, and social perspectives. The sustainable network concerns...equitable access to particular services which are otherwise abused by misbehaving or malicious users. Such approaches provide a fair and

Perencanaan Dengan Konsep Sustainable Building

OpenAIRE

Putra, Yulesta

2004-01-01

Di beberapa Negara maju pada tahun 2000 telah mengeluarkan peraturan tentang penerapan konsep sustainable building yang merupakan bagian dari program management lingkungan kota, oleh Yulesta Putra 04015309

Sustainable building design in practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunsgaard, Camilla; Bejder, Anne Kirkegaard

2017-01-01

Sustainability certification schemes experience growing popularity. Denmark got its own sustainability certification scheme based on the German DGNB certification scheme. Previous work based on four case studies – DGNB certified healthcare centres, suggests further research on how to improve...... and support the iterative design process in the initial design phases. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to investigate the design process on a more common level experienced by Danish DGNB consultants when designing sustainable buildings using the Danish DGNB certification scheme and thereby possibly...

Sustainable building; Duurzaam bouwen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hendriks, Ch.F. [ed.] [Interfacultair Onderzoek Centrum ' De Ecologische Stad' DIOC, Delft (Netherlands)

1999-07-01

A complete overview is given of starting points and targets for the sustainable construction of buildings. The notion of sustainable indicates the necessity of managing specific flows: materials, energy, water and transport (traffic). Also, the monitoring and calculation of environmental effects must be clarified by the generally accepted method of life cycle analysis. This book is for the larger part the result of research carried out at the Interdepartmental Research Centre 'The Ecological City' at the Delft University of Technology in Delft, Netherlands. refs.

Green Richland: Building Sustainable Local and World Community

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, Carole N.

2008-01-01

This article shares the college's experiences and the lessons learned in the creation of the GREENRichland Program and the other approaches to building sustainability. These programs directly support the college's vision to be the best place to learn, teach, and build sustainable local and world community. This discussion features details…

A broader consideration of human factor to enhance sustainable building design.

Science.gov (United States)

Attaianese, Erminia

2012-01-01

The link between ergonomic/human factor and sustainability seems to be clearly evidenced mainly in relation to social dimension of sustainability, in order to contribute to assure corporate social responsibility and global value creation. But the will to establish an equilibrated connection among used resources in human activities, supported by the sustainability perspective, evidences that the contribution of ergonomics/human factors can be effectively enlarged to other aspects, especially in relation to building design. In fact a sustainable building is meant to be a building that contributes, through its characteristics and attribute, to a sustainable development by assuring, in the same time, a decrease of resources use and environmental impact and an increase of health, safety and comfort of the occupants. The purpose of this paper is to analyze in a broader sense the contribution of ergonomic/human factor to design of sustainable building, focusing how ergonomics principles, methodology and techniques can improve building design, enhancing its sustainability performance during all phases of building lifecycle.

Sustainable Building in Scandinavia: Directions of Innovations for Supporting the Transition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch-Ørvad, Nina; Thuesen, Christian

2016-01-01

Buildings are essential for securing a sustainable society, and the Scandinavian building sector is viewed upon globally as the one to lead the way. This paper investigates in which directions sustainable building in Scandinavia is likely to move and outlines a number of areas where sustainable...... in novations are necessary for supporting this movement. The focus on innovations as essential support for the sustainable transition of the building sector derives from the Multi-Level Perspective, which has been applied to this study as a framework for understanding sustainable transitions of socio...

Sustainable materials for low carbon buildings

OpenAIRE

B.V. Venkatarama Reddy

2009-01-01

This paper focuses on certain issues pertaining to energy, carbon emissions and sustainability of building construction with particular reference to the Indian construction industry. Use of sustainable natural materials in the past, related durability issues, and the implications of currently used energy-intensive materials on carbon emissions and sustainability are discussed. Some statistics on the Indian construction sector regarding materials produced in bulk quantities and the energy impl...

Safe and Sustainable Tall Buildings - State of the Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mendis P.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Tall buildings are becoming very popular around the world. Asia will have most of the tall buildings in this century. Both safety and sustainability aspects are important in planning and designing these buildings. The design and construction of tall buildings present many challenges for the design team, from engineers, architect through to the builder. Although structural systems could be developed and construction solutions could be found to design and construct very tall buildings in excess of 1 km (even 1 mile, other aspects such as fire and egress, long-term movements, environmental wind and perception of motion (including damping for dynamic effects, transportation (lifts issues, sustainability, durability and maintenance will govern and may even restrict the heights. Current practices and important issues related to design of safe and sustainable design of tall buildings are discussed in this paper.

Smart energy control systems for sustainable buildings

CERN Document Server

Spataru, Catalina; Howlett, Robert; Jain, Lakhmi

2017-01-01

There is widespread interest in the way that smart energy control systems, such as assessment and monitoring techniques for low carbon, nearly-zero energy and net positive buildings can contribute to a Sustainable future, for current and future generations. There is a turning point on the horizon for the supply of energy from finite resources such as natural gas and oil become less reliable in economic terms and extraction become more challenging, and more unacceptable socially, such as adverse public reaction to ‘fracking’. Thus, in 2016 these challenges are having a major influence on the design, optimisation, performance measurements, operation and preservation of: buildings, neighbourhoods, cities, regions, countries and continents. The source and nature of energy, the security of supply and the equity of distribution, the environmental impact of its supply and utilization, are all crucial matters to be addressed by suppliers, consumers, governments, industry, academia, and financial institutions. Thi...

A preliminary study on the relevancy of sustainable building design ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This preliminary study aims to explore the relationship between sustainable building design paradigms and commercial property depreciation, to assist in the understanding of sustainable building design impact towards commercial building value and rental de employs the qualitative method and analyses valuers' current ...

A survey of Danish earthen heritage for sustainable building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eybye, Birgitte Tanderup; Vestergaard, Inge

2017-01-01

Earthen buildings were common in Denmark up until circa 1880, after which the number of such buildings declined. Today earthen buildings are considered as examples of sustainable architecture, nevertheless there are only few contemporary Danish earthen buildings. The first part of this paper...... to contribute to future sustainable building....... investigates heritage uses of earthen building with a view to exploring the factors that led to their decline. To achieve this, the paper will present a literature study and a case study. The second part of this paper comments on the extent to which the earthen heritage techniques have the potential...

Sustainable Construction Industry Development and Green Buildings: A Case of Latvia

Science.gov (United States)

Kauskale, L.; Geipele, I.; Zeltins, N.; Vanags, J.

2018-02-01

Nowadays, more and more attention is being paid to the country's economy, construction industry and real estate market's sustainable development and to the studies related to these issues. The aim of the research is to analyse significant aspects of sustainable development of construction activities and real estate market, with particular focus on environmental aspects of construction or the role of green buildings. The research includes an integrated approach of construction industry analysis and analysis of real estate operations area. Scientific and practical solutions and recommendations will enable the industry participants to be introduced to the main sustainable aspects of construction industry development, which, in their turn, can improve the overall performance of the industry in the long term.

A review of interdependence of sustainable building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ju, Chuanjing; Ning, Yan; Pan, Wei

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT: Despite the worldwide promotion of the sustainable building (SB) approach, its associated interdependence has seldom been explored. This knowledge gap is significant given the paradigm shift of regarding SBs as complex socio-technical systems embedded with multifaceted interdependence. The aim of this paper is to examine the interdependence of SB through a literature review. The literature review was guided by a framework comprising three dimensions of SB systems, i.e., building performance, methodology and stakeholders, on their theoretical grounds ranged from reductionism to holism. In order to articulate the integration of the three dimensions, this paper examined zero carbon building as a specific case of SB. The findings contribute an innovative approach to examining the interdependence of SB, and should guide the development of strategies for managing the trade-offs in delivering SBs. - Highlights: • Performance scope of sustainable building triggers interdependence. • Material flow from cradle to cradle causes interdependence. • Interdependence occurs between the building and their context. • Interdependence exists in stakeholders' participation.

Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities: Assistance from Grantees

Science.gov (United States)

EPA awarded Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities grants to four nonprofit organizations with extensive expertise in community sustainability. These organizations deliver technical assistance to communities.

Prerequisites for Successful Strategic Partnerships for Sustainable Building Renovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Per Anker; Johansen, Jakob Berg; Thuesen, Christian

The purpose of this paper is to identify the prerequisites for establishing successful strategic partnerships in relation to renovating buildings sustainably. Establishing strategic partnerships is in the paper seen as a potential way to make building renovation more sustainable in Denmark...... and analysis of strategic partnerships models as well as typical processes used in building renovation. Experiences from development of new strategic partnerships have particularly been found in the UK and Sweden. Based on two workshops with practitioners representing the whole value chain in the construction...... industry and analyses of two exemplary cases the paper suggests prerequisites for establishing successful strategic partnerships for sustainable building renovation. The results show that strategic partnerships are collaborations set up between two or more organizations that remain independent...

Tall-Building Projects Sustainability Indicator (TPSI: A New Design and Environmental Assessment Tool for Tall Buildings

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Hasim Altan

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the features of Tall-building Projects Sustainability Indicator (TPSI—a “Sustainability Rating System” that specializes in tall-building projects. The system comprises two components; the “Technical Manual” in the form of a booklet and the “Calculator” in the form of an Excel tool. It can be used as a “design tool” and/or as a “checklist” to compare and to improve the sustainable performance of tall-building design schemes. At the same time, the system can be used to evaluate the sustainability of existing tall-building projects. The first version of the TPSI rating system (TPSI 2012 Version was released as an online tool (GreenLight and thoroughly examined and validated by multiple parties.

Sustainability-open : Why every building will be sustainable in the future

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Coenders, J.L.

2013-01-01

In this paper the initiative “sustainability-open” will be introduced. The aim of the initiative is to take away one of the reasons why buildings and other objects in the built environment are often not designed in a sustainable manner: the availability of clear and insightful software to analyse

Sustainability of NGO capacity building in southern Africa: successes and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Humphries, Debbie; Gomez, Ligia; Hartwig, Kari

2011-01-01

Despite an increase in organizational capacity building efforts by external organizations in low and middle income countries, the documentation of these efforts and their effects on health programs and systems remains limited. This paper reviews key frameworks for considering sustainability of capacity building and applies these frameworks to an evaluation of the sustainability of an AIDS non-governmental organization (NGO) capacity building initiative. From 2004-2007 Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation's Secure the Future(TM) initiative in southern Africa funded a five country program, the NGO Training Institute (NGOTI), to build capacity of NGOs working to address HIV/AIDS. Lessons learned from this project include issues of ownership, the importance of integrating planning for sustainability within capacity-building projects, and the value of identifying primary capacity-building objectives in order to select sustainability strategies that are focused on maintaining program benefits. Sustainability for capacity building projects can be developed by discussing key issues early in the planning process with all primary stakeholders. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Guiding Principles for Sustainable Existing Buildings: Radiochemical Processing Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pope, Jason E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2013-11-11

In 2006, the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) signed the Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), along with 21 other agencies. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is exceeding this requirement and, currently, about 25 percent of its buildings are High Performance and Sustainable Buildings. The pages that follow document the Guiding Principles conformance effort for the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) at PNNL. The RPL effort is part of continued progress toward a building inventory that is 100 percent compliant with the Guiding Principles.

Prerequisites for Successful Strategic Partnerships for Sustainable Building Renovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Per Anker; Johansen, Jakob Berg; Thuesen, Christian

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to identify the prerequisites for establishing successful strategic partnerships in relation to renovating buildings sustainably. Establishing strategic partnerships is in the paper seen as a potential way to make building renovation more sustainable in Denmark...... industry and analyses of two exemplary cases the paper suggests prerequisites for establishing successful strategic partnerships for sustainable building renovation. The results show that strategic partnerships are collaborations set up between two or more organizations that remain independent...... particularly in terms of reducing energy consumption and use of resources and increase productivity. However, until now we have only had a limited number of such partnerships implemented and the few examples that do exist, mostly concern the construction of new buildings. The paper is based on an investigation...

Sensitivity analysis for daily building operation from the energy and thermal comfort standpoint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ignjatović Marko G.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Improving energy performance of buildings is one of the most important tasks for reaching sustainability. Assessing building energy consumption is performed more often with specialized simulation tools. Sensitivity analysis proved to be a valuable tool for creating more reliable and realistic building energy models and better buildings. This paper briefly describes the methodology for running global sensitivity analysis and tools that can be used, and presents the results of such an analysis conducted for winter period, daily, on input variables covering a real building's operation, control and occupant related parameters that affect both thermal comfort and heating energy consumption. Two sets of inputs were created. The only difference between these sets is an addition of clothing insulation and occupant heat gain as input variables. The reference building was simulated for three distinctive winter weeks. Two additional input variables have an effect especially on thermal comfort, but they do not disturb the relative order of other influential input variables. The common influential variables for both energy consumption and thermal comfort were identified and are: air handling unit sup-ply temperature and airflow rate and control system related parameters. This can help in future research into implementing the simulation-assisted optimized operation in real buildings. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR-33051: The concept of sustainable energy supply of settlements with energy efficient buildings

Sustainable Construction Industry Development and Green Buildings: A Case of Latvia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kauskale L.

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, more and more attention is being paid to the country's economy, construction industry and real estate market's sustainable development and to the studies related to these issues. The aim of the research is to analyse significant aspects of sustainable development of construction activities and real estate market, with particular focus on environmental aspects of construction or the role of green buildings. The research includes an integrated approach of construction industry analysis and analysis of real estate operations area. Scientific and practical solutions and recommendations will enable the industry participants to be introduced to the main sustainable aspects of construction industry development, which, in their turn, can improve the overall performance of the industry in the long term.

Building Theory at the Intersection of Ecological Sustainability and Strategic Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borland, Helen; Ambrosini, Véronique; Lindgreen, Adam

2016-01-01

This article builds theory at the intersection of ecological sustainability and strategic management literature—specifically, in relation to dynamic capabilities literature. By combining industrial organization economics–based, resource-based, and dynamic capability–based views, it is possible...... to develop a better understanding of the strategies that businesses may follow, depending on their managers’ assumptions about ecological sustainability. To develop innovative strategies for ecological sustainability, the dynamic capabilities framework needs to be extended. In particular, the sensing......–seizing–maintaining competitiveness framework should operate not only within the boundaries of a business ecosystem but in relation to global biophysical ecosystems; in addition, two more dynamic capabilities should be added, namely, remapping and reaping. This framework can explicate core managerial beliefs about ecological...

Sustainability in Fashion Business Operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsan-Ming Choi

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Under the global trend of sustainability, many companies selling fashion products have to reshape their operational strategies. Over the past few years, we have witnessed many fashion companies going green by re-engineering their business processes and establishing their formal sustainability programs. Many important topics, such as closed-loop supply chain management, corporate social responsibility, and economic sustainability, are all related to sustainable fashion business operations management. This paper provides a brief review of these critical topics, introduces the special issue, and proposes future research areas to achieve sustainable operations management in the fashion business.

Innovations in building regulation and control for advancing sustainability in buildings (I)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meacham, B.; Visscher, H.J.; Meijer, F.M.; Chan, C.; Chan, E.; Laubscher, J.; Neng Kwei Sung, J.; Dodds, B.; Serra, J.; Tenorio, J.A.; Echeverria, J.B.; Sanches-Ostiz, A.

2014-01-01

This session brings together policy-makers, government officials, researchers and others to present perspectives on how innovation in building regulation and control, such as performancebased approaches, are currently being used to advance sustainability concepts in buildings, and where and how we

Categorizing Building certification systems according to the definition of sustainable building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zimmermann, Regitze Kjær; Skjelmose, Ole; Guldager Jensen, Kasper

2018-01-01

The availability of sustainable (or green) building certifications schemes is constantly increasing and it is not always easy to understand how the schemes on the market differentiate from each other. The purpose of this study is to create a better dialog between client and consultant in relation...... are both of international, regional and local scale (Active House, BREEAM, DGNB, Green Star, HQE, LEED, Living Building Challenge, Miljöbyggnad, Nordic Ecolabel and WELL). The results show a large variation of the weight on the dimensions of social, environmental and economic sustainability within the 10...... the largest focus on criteria within the environmental dimension. Across the selected certifications this dimension account for an average of 51%. This indicates that certifications have “green” buildings as their main focus point. However, a certification such as WELL almost completely focuses on social...

"Initiate-build-operate-transfer" - a strategy for establishing sustainable telemedicine programs not only in the developing countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Latifi, Rifat

2011-01-01

Establishing sustainable telemedicine has become a goal of many developing countries around the world. Yet, despite initiatives from a select few individuals and on occasion from various governments, often these initiatives never mature to become sustainable programs. The introduction of telemedicine and e-learning in the Balkans has been a pivotal step in advancing the quality and availability of medical services in a region whose infrastructure and resources have been decimated by wars, neglect, lack of funding, and poor management. The concept and establishment of the International Virtual e-Hospital (IVeH) has significantly impacted telemedicine and e-health services in Kosova. The success of the IVeH in Kosova has led to the development of similar programs in other Balkan countries and other developing countries in the hope of modernizing and improving their healthcare infrastructure. A comprehensive, four-pronged strategy developed by IVeH "Initiate-Build-Operate-Transfer" (IBOT), may be a useful approach in establishing telemedicine and e-health educational services not only in developing countries, but in developed countries. The development strategy, IBOT, used by the IVeH to establish and develop telemedicine programs is described. IBOT includes assessment of healthcare needs of each country, the development of a curriculum and education program, the establishment of a nationwide telemedicine network, and the integration of the telemedicine program into the very core of healthcare infrastructure. The end point is the transfer of a sustainable telehealth program to the nation involved. By applying IBOT, a sustainable telemedicine program of Kosova and Albania has been established as an effective prototype for telemedicine in the Balkans. Once fully matured, the program is transitioned to the Ministry of Health, which ensures the sustainability and ownership of the program. Similar programs are being established in Macedonia, Montenegro and other countries

A review of interdependence of sustainable building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ju, Chuanjing [Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong); Ning, Yan, E-mail: cqningyan@gmail.com [Department of Construction and Real Estate, Southeast University, 210096 (China); Pan, Wei [Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

2016-01-15

ABSTRACT: Despite the worldwide promotion of the sustainable building (SB) approach, its associated interdependence has seldom been explored. This knowledge gap is significant given the paradigm shift of regarding SBs as complex socio-technical systems embedded with multifaceted interdependence. The aim of this paper is to examine the interdependence of SB through a literature review. The literature review was guided by a framework comprising three dimensions of SB systems, i.e., building performance, methodology and stakeholders, on their theoretical grounds ranged from reductionism to holism. In order to articulate the integration of the three dimensions, this paper examined zero carbon building as a specific case of SB. The findings contribute an innovative approach to examining the interdependence of SB, and should guide the development of strategies for managing the trade-offs in delivering SBs. - Highlights: • Performance scope of sustainable building triggers interdependence. • Material flow from cradle to cradle causes interdependence. • Interdependence occurs between the building and their context. • Interdependence exists in stakeholders' participation.

INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF BUILDINGS QUALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mária Kozlovská

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of the paper is to analyse the assumptions for integrated assessment of buildings quality in the context of sustainable development principles. The sustainable (or “green” buildings are cost effective, environmentally friendly and conserving natural resources. The buildings are comfortable for the users, are also healthy and optimally integrated into socio-cultural environment; thereby have long maintained their high added value – for investors, owners as well as users.Design methodology/approach: The methodology of the paper consists in analyses of certification systems that assess buildings sustainability within wider environmental, economic and social relations. An effort to increase the quality of construction and to provide objectified assessment with measurable and comparable results has evoked the origin and development of the tools for buildings sustainability assessment. In the case study, there are analysed the approaches into assessment of one from few certified sustainable projects in Slovakia “EcoPoint Office Center Kosice”. The results are destined for potential investors perhaps even for present owners that have ambitions and responsibility for building sustainability principles performance when designing and using their properties.Findings: The results of the research imply identification of the key characteristics expressing the comprehensive quality of the building and are leading to specification of practical and social implications that are provided by the sustainability philosophy.Originality/value: The force of the paper is to mention the approaches into integrated assessment of construction quality in the context of sustainability principles and the importance of their more extensive implementation in Slovakia. The approaches into the sustainability principles performance as well as the real benefits of the sustainable building are declared through case study of the building EcoPoint Office

Social indicators of sustainable building; Soziale Indikatoren des nachhaltigen Bauens

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Greiff, Rainer

2012-06-15

As a result of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro (''Earth Summit'') the participating nations agreed upon principles of sus-tainable development and objectives for sustainable development - the so called ''Agenda 21'' - to be pursued by national sustainability strategies and be monitored by systems of appropriate relative indicators. The participants shared the awareness that ecological objectives aiming at the global preservation of the natural resources can be achieved only if sustainable economic and social developments are considered together. Unlike the ecological demands of protection of climate and resources, for which evidence can be provided by natural sciences and that can be substantiated by figures, a common under-standing of the social dimension of sustainability has not yet emerged. The same is true for the concept of ''sustainable building''. In the guideline ''Sustainable Building'' published by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing in 2001, essential instructions regarding the implementation of ob-jectives for ecological construction were compiled for use in practice. This guideline is now to be supplemented by objectives of social sustainability. As a basis for common understanding a definition of the social aspects of sustainable building will be brought forward, which is expected to be broadly acknowledged. Furthermore indicators for the social dimension of sustainability were to be developed so that the observance of socio-cultural aspects of sustainability may be operationalised for new construction as well as refurbishment.

Comparison of Buildings\\' Thermal Loads against Building Orientations for Sustainable Housing in Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arif Khan

2012-07-01

Full Text Available As the sustainable settlements have been included as a vital end product of all planning exercises, the architectural layouts should be well integrated with the sun path charts and the orientations of windows. Appropriate orientations can offer thermally indoor conditions besides physical and psychological comfort in any settlement at lesser energy demand. This investigation uses a vast number of computer simulations to visualize and make better decisions about heating and cooling requirements of a building and facades as a function of window orientation in composite climatic condition of Lahore. This study in particular evaluates the solar load in residential buildings responsive to the objective of sustainable new housing leading to thoughtful integration of architecture. The orientation of the buildings could then be essentially integrated to the current architectural and urban design practices in order to optimize the relationship between the given site ant the orientations for sustainable developments.

On methods of sustainable architectural design of bio-positive buildings in the low-rise residential development structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhogoleva Anna

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the author’s research is to determine the actual content of sustainable architectural design for suburban residential development. In accordance with the methodology of area sustainable development the traditional architectural design according to the rules and regulations is completed with additional approaches and methods. As a result, methods of bio-positive design of buildings have been studied and defined, including: the principle of planning transformations, the use of environmentally friendly, local building materials and design concepts, energy-efficient architectural design, the use of alternative energy in building operation, the design of the energy intake and accumulationsystems, the architectural and landscape design that ensures stable functioning of autonomous, sustainable biosystems on the site, non-waste functioning of architectural objects, introduction of waste disposal systems in the project.

Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

This page provides and overview of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) which was voluntarily committed the Agency to follow the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings.

A self-sustainable winery, an advanced passive building and remote monitoring of environments in wineries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roger Boulton

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The self-sustainable winery was conceived in 2006 and the intention was to create a building and its related utility systems that would operate independently from the energy and water grids and to eliminate hydrocarbon fuels from its operation, capture and sequester the carbon dioxide from its fermentations and create a zero carbon footprint facility. The winery was the highest scoring LEED building at any university when it was completed and the first LEED Platinum Winery in the USA. The adjacent Jess Jackson sustainable winery building is a highly passive research and utility space that will house the advanced energy and water systems that make this off-grid performance possible. Together these buildings will operate every daily in energy and water positive modes and at capacities, which exceed the demands even during the harvest season. The data system incorporated into these buildings for one hundred and fifty research fermentors, fourteen teaching fermentors will also monitor all energy, water and building activities in a secure, cloud-based software system that supports both web and handheld access, with the potential for bidirectional date and control functions. This data network has been extended to include real time monitoring of temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds in five production areas within two commercial winery sites and two creamery facilities, located more than 100 km from Davis. This now provides an example of a distributed dynamic network for the monitoring of the built environment in remote commercial food and wine facilities.

Environmental sustainability assessment of buildings in hot climates: the case of the UAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

AboulNaga, Mohsen M.; Elsheshtawy, Yasser H.

2001-01-01

Sustainability has acquired great importance due to the negative impact of various developments on the environment. The rapid growth during the last decade has been accompanied by active construction which, in some instances, neglected the impact on the environment and human activities. The impact of developments on the traditional heritage has not been taken into consideration although the latter represents a rich resource for sustainable building practices. The study aims at examining these developments in the UAE using an assessment tool that measures the performance of buildings in terms of their sustainability. This study attempts to: (a) develop a comprehensive definition of sustainability to suit UAE needs; (b) classify sustainable building practices at international and regional levels; (c) assess building performance in the UAE; and (d) establish guidelines for future sustainable architecture. T-Sol software was used to predict the CO 2 emission level in selected buildings in the UAE. Results illustrate that average energy use/area in domestic buildings is high (213 kWh/m 2 ) and public buildings showed less sustainable measures in terms of energy features, energy performance and environmental features. Issues considered in the assessment of buildings such as energy use per square metre and CO 2 emission are alarming. Traditional buildings in the UAE were more sustainable than contemporary buildings, however. (Author)

Sustainability challenges of residential reinforced - concrete panel buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markku J. Riihimäki

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Quite similar large-panel prefabrication technologies were used for residential buildings in East-Europe and some countries in Northern-Europe, e.g. Finland. Even if technologically similar, the fate of the building stocks is different in the two regions, with buildings functioning sustainably in Finland. Hence, one could adapt the maintenance and renovation experiences to the building stock in other countries, creating opportunities for communities and business. The paper presents technological, economical, and institutional/policy aspects in the two environments, and discusses them in the larger framework of European sustainability targets. For major renovation, as targeted in the paper, methods of change management should be applied, entailing thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation and above all, consultation/involvement of the people affected. If the presented interventions would be used in a systematic and planned way, improvements can be achieved for social sustainability targets like e.g. adaptability and visual comfort, while maintaining the safety and security. Finally, the limitations of the approach in light of the institutional setting and ownership structure are discussed, highlighting how different ownership models are favoring or hindering major retrofit interventions. The paper offers ways on strengthening the role of key stakeholders to support major renovation interventions on the panel building stock.

Modeling a Decision Support Tool for Buildable and Sustainable Building Envelope Designs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natee Singhaputtangkul

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Sustainability and buildability requirements in building envelope design have significantly gained more importance nowadays, yet there is a lack of an appropriate decision support system (DSS that can help a building design team to incorporate these requirements and manage their tradeoffs at once. The main objective of this study is to build such a tool to facilitate a building design team to take into account sustainability and buildability criteria for assessment of building envelopes of high-rise residential buildings in Singapore. Literature reviews were conducted to investigate a comprehensive set of the sustainability and buildability criteria. This also included development of the tool using a Quality Functional Deployment (QFD approach combined with fuzzy set theory. A building design team was engaged to test the tool with the aim to evaluate usefulness of the tool in managing the tradeoffs among the sustainability and buildability criteria. The results from a qualitative data analysis suggested that the tool allowed the design team to effectively find a balance between the tradeoffs among the criteria when assessing multiple building envelope design alternatives. Main contributions of using this tool are achievement of a more efficient assessment of the building envelopes and more sustainable and buildable building envelope design.

Building products for sustainable buildings; Bauprodukte fuer nachhaltige Gebaeude

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blumberg, Martin; Urbanek, Anja [brands und values GmbH, Bremen (Germany)

2013-04-15

In the light of the energy efficiency, sustainability and the increasing distribution of buildings certifications environmental product declarations have grown in significance. The environmental product declaration program for building products was organized by the Institute Construction and Environment e.V. (Koenigswinter, Federal Republic of Germany). Beside the definition of the product group specific requirements and certifications as well as an independent review process of the completed environmental product declarations, the Advisory Council guarantees that the program rules of the Institute Construction and Environment e.V. continue to develop in conformity to international standards.

Beyond the buildingcentric approach: A vision for an integrated evaluation of sustainable buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conte, Emilia; Monno, Valeria

2012-01-01

The available sustainable building evaluation systems have produced a new environmental design paradigm. However, there is an increasing need to overcome the buildingcentric approach of these systems, in order to further exploit their innovate potential for sustainable building practices. The paper takes this challenge by developing a cross-scale evaluation approach focusing on the reliability of sustainable building design solutions for the context in which the building is situated. An integrated building–urban evaluation model is proposed based on the urban matrix, which is a conceptualisation of the built environment as a social–ecological system. The model aims at evaluating the sustainability of a building considering it as an active entity contributing to the resilience of the urban matrix. Few holistic performance indicators are used for evaluating such contribution, so expressing the building reliability. The discussion on the efficacy of the model shows that it works as a heuristic tool, supporting the acquisition of a better insight into the complexity which characterises the relationships between the building and the built environment sustainability. Shading new lights on the meaning of sustainable buildings, the model can play a positive role in innovating sustainable building design practices, thus complementing current evaluation systems. - Highlights: ► We model an integrated building–urban evaluation approach. ► The urban matrix represents the social–ecological functioning of the urban context. ► We introduce the concept of reliability to evaluate sustainable buildings. ► Holistic indicators express the building reliability. ► The evaluation model works as heuristic tool and complements other tools.

Infusing Sustainability Across Disciplines to Build Student Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Bruckner, M. Z.; O'Connell, K.; McDaris, J. R.; Kirk, K. B.; Larsen, K.; Kent, M.; Manduca, C. A.; Egger, A. E.; Blockstein, D.; Mogk, D. W.; Taber, J.

2014-12-01

Establishing relevance and effective communication are key mechanisms for building student and community engagement in a topic and can be used to promote the importance of working across disciplines to solve problems. Sustainability, including the impacts of and responses to climate change, is an inherently interdisciplinary issue and can be infused across courses and curricula in a variety of ways. Key topics such as climate change, hazards, and food, water, and energy production and sustainability are relevant to a wide audience and can be used to build student engagement. Using real-world examples, service learning, and focusing on the local environment may further boost engagement by establishing relevance between sustainability issues and students' lives. Communication plays a key role in the exchange of information across disciplines and allows for a more holistic approach to tackling the complex climate and sustainability issues our society faces. It has the power to bridge gaps, break down disciplinary silos, and build connections among diverse audiences with a wide range of expertise, including scientists, policy-makers, stakeholders, and the general public. It also aids in planning and preparation for, response to, and mitigation of issues related to sustainability, including the impacts of climate change, to lessen the detrimental effects of unavoidable events such as sea level rise and extreme weather events. Several workshops from the InTeGrate and On the Cutting Edge projects brought together educators and practitioners from a range of disciplines including geoscience, engineering, social science, and more to encourage communication and collaboration across disciplines. They supported networking, community-building, and sharing of best practices for preparing our students for a sustainable future, both in and out of the workplace, and across disciplines. Interdisciplinary teams are also working together to author curricular materials that highlight

Sustainable construction building performance simulation and asset and maintenance management

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

This book presents a collection of recent research works that highlight best practice solutions, case studies and practical advice on the implementation of sustainable construction techniques. It includes a set of new developments in the field of building performance simulation, building sustainability assessment, sustainable management, asset and maintenance management and service-life prediction. Accordingly, the book will appeal to a broad readership of professionals, scientists, students, practitioners, lecturers and other interested parties.

The Lanchester Library — Building a Sustainable Library

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pat Noon

2008-09-01

Full Text Available The award winning Lanchester Library is the largest deep plan naturally ventilated building in Europe and has consistently delivered significant energy savings compared to air conditioned buildings. The article provides some background to the design and explains the sustainable features of the building as well as describing how flexibility was built into the building to enable the library service to evolve in response to changing user needs.

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...

Decision-making in the Pre-design Stage of Sustainable Building Renovation Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gade, Anne Nørkjær; Jensen, Rasmus Lund; Larsen, Tine Steen

2017-01-01

There is a great potential in renovating our existing building stock, in terms of improving environmental, economic and social qualities. Meeting the increasing performance requirements for sustainable construction entails an increasing level of complexity in the design process of both new...... buildings and renovation projects. Decision support tools are one solution that can help the building owner manage this complexity. This study investigates the current decision-making processes among Danish professional building owners, in order to propose a conceptual framework for future decision support...... tools for sustainable renovation. Design Science Research Methodology has been used as the main methodological framework. Current practices for setting goals for sustainability, determining the current state of the buildings and prioritizing which buildings to renovate within a building portfolio, have...

Sustainability-Related Decision Making in Industrial Buildings: An AHP Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesús Cuadrado

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Few other sectors have such a great impact on sustainability as the construction industry, in which concerns over the environmental dimension have been growing for some time. The sustainability assessment methodology presented in this paper is an AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process based on Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM and includes the main sustainability factors for consideration in the construction of an industrial building (environmental, economic, and social, as well as other factors that greatly influence the conceptual design of the building (employee safety, corporate image. Its simplicity is well adapted to its main objective, to serve as a sustainability-related decision making tool in industrial building projects, during the design stage. Accompanied by an economic valuation of the actions to be undertaken, this tool means that the most cost-effective solution may be selected from among the various options.

Building a Sustainable Global Surgical Program in an Academic Department of Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Linda P; Silverberg, Daniel; Divino, Celia M; Marin, Michael

Global surgery and volunteerism in surgery has gained significant interest in recent years for general surgery residents across the country. However, there are few well-established long-term surgical programs affiliated with academic institutions. The present report discusses the implementation process and challenges facing an academic institution in building a long-term sustainable global surgery program. As one of the pioneer programs in global surgery for residents, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai global surgery rotation has been successfully running for the last 10 years in a small public hospital in the Dominican Republic. The present report details many key components of implementing a sustainable global surgery program and the evolution of this program over time. Since 2005, 80 general surgery residents have rotated through Juan Pablo Pina Hospital in the Dominican Republic. They have performed a total of 1239 major operations and 740 minor operations. They have also participated in 328 emergency cases. More importantly, this rotation helped shape residents' sense of social responsibility and ownership in their surgical training. Residents have also contributed to the training of local residents in laparoscopic skills and through cultural exchange. As interest in global surgery grows among general surgery residents, it is essential that supporting academic institutions create sustainable and capacity-building rotations for their residents. These programs must address many of the barriers that can hinder maintenance of a sustainable global surgery experience for residents. After 10 years of sending our residents to the Dominican Republic, we have found that it is possible and valuable to incorporate a formal global surgery rotation into a general surgery residency. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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.

A Model for Sustainable Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) Using Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) Mechanism for Hotel Buildings in China

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Pengpeng

Hotel building is one of the high-energy-consuming building types, and retrofitting hotel buildings is an untapped solution to help cut carbon emissions contributing towards sustainable development. Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) has been promulgated as a market mechanism for the delivery of energy efficiency projects. EPC mechanism has been introduced into China relatively recently, and it has not been implemented successfully in building energy efficiency retrofit projects. The aim of this research is to develop a model for achieving the sustainability of Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) in hotel buildings under the Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) mechanism. The objectives include: • To identify a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for measuring the sustainability of BEER in hotel buildings; • To identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) under EPC mechanism that have a strong correlation with sustainable BEER project; • To develop a model explaining the relationships between the CSFs and the sustainability performance of BEER in hotel building. Literature reviews revealed the essence of sustainable BEER and EPC, which help to develop a conceptual framework for analyzing sustainable BEER under EPC mechanism in hotel buildings. 11 potential KPIs for sustainable BEER and 28 success factors of EPC were selected based on the developed framework. A questionnaire survey was conducted to ascertain the importance of selected performance indicators and success factors. Fuzzy set theory was adopted in identifying the KPIs. Six KPIs were identified from the 11 selected performance indicators. Through a questionnaire survey, out of the 28 success factors, 21 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) were also indentified. Using the factor analysis technique, the 21 identified CSFs in this study were grouped into six clusters to help explain project success of sustainable BEER. Finally, AHP/ANP approach was used in this research to develop a model to

China. Top Sector Energy. Sustainable Building. Opportunities for Dutch companies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-08-15

For China, sustainable design is necessary for controlling energy usage in crowded and constantly expanding urban areas. It is well known that China is the world's biggest construction market. Nearly half of the new buildings annually constructed worldwide are located in China by 2015. However, only about 4% of these are built according to energy efficiency standards. China's construction market will by 2020 account for 40% of the country's total energy consumption. While it contributes 15% of the world's GDP, China consumes 30% of the earth's steel and half its concrete. On top of which, buildings in China consume a third of the country's increasingly endangered water supplies. Recent research showed that almost half of the national energy consumption has been used for construction related purposes. Of existing buildings, a huge amount needs sustainable redesign and retrofitting technologies.Chinese government has recognized the urgency of widely implementing sustainable buildings. As a result, a national 3-star China National Green Building rating system has been launched in 2006. Yet the Chinese green building revolution is still in its infancy. Main problems are, amongst others, low level of regulations and standards, problematic implementations at local level, lack of awareness and transparency in related public and private sector, lack of expertise of integrated sustainable building design and construction among engineers, designers and constructors. It is also to be expected that more aggressive energy saving and environmental protection targets will be set by the 12th Five Year Plan. Promote green buildings will be one of the top priorities in China's swift urbanization process with focus on saving land, energy, water and materials. Chinese government has recognized the urgency of widely implementing sustainable buildings. Yet the Chinese green building revolution is still in its infancy. Under this framework, the

China. Top Sector Energy. Sustainable Building. Opportunities for Dutch companies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-08-15

For China, sustainable design is necessary for controlling energy usage in crowded and constantly expanding urban areas. It is well known that China is the world's biggest construction market. Nearly half of the new buildings annually constructed worldwide are located in China by 2015. However, only about 4% of these are built according to energy efficiency standards. China's construction market will by 2020 account for 40% of the country's total energy consumption. While it contributes 15% of the world's GDP, China consumes 30% of the earth's steel and half its concrete. On top of which, buildings in China consume a third of the country's increasingly endangered water supplies. Recent research showed that almost half of the national energy consumption has been used for construction related purposes. Of existing buildings, a huge amount needs sustainable redesign and retrofitting technologies.Chinese government has recognized the urgency of widely implementing sustainable buildings. As a result, a national 3-star China National Green Building rating system has been launched in 2006. Yet the Chinese green building revolution is still in its infancy. Main problems are, amongst others, low level of regulations and standards, problematic implementations at local level, lack of awareness and transparency in related public and private sector, lack of expertise of integrated sustainable building design and construction among engineers, designers and constructors. It is also to be expected that more aggressive energy saving and environmental protection targets will be set by the 12th Five Year Plan. Promote green buildings will be one of the top priorities in China's swift urbanization process with focus on saving land, energy, water and materials. Chinese government has recognized the urgency of widely implementing sustainable buildings. Yet the Chinese green building revolution is still in its infancy. Under this framework, the following areas will offer business

76 FR 56780 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Capacity Building for Sustainable...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-14

... Information Collection: Comment Request; Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program: Notice of... public comments on the subject proposal. The Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program... also lists the following information: Title of Proposal: Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities...

Modelling the life-cycle of sustainable, living buildings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Nederveen, S.; Gielingh, W.

2009-01-01

Credit-reductions by banks, as a consequence of the global monetary crisis, will hit the construction industry for many years to come. There are however still financing opportunities for building projects that are perceived as less risky. Buildings that are not only sustainable, but also flexible

Alliance for Sustainable Colorado Renovation Raises Its Energy Performance to New Heights, Commercial Building Energy Efficiency (Fact Sheet); Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-03-01

The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado (The Alliance) is a nonprofit organization aiming to transform sustainability from vision to reality. Part of its mission is to change the operating paradigms of commercial building design to make them more sustainable. Toward that end The Alliance uses its headquarters, The Alliance Center at 1536 Wynkoop Street in Denver, as a living laboratory, conductingpilot studies of innovative commercial-building-design solutions for using and generating energy.

Building Integrated Design Practice under the Concept of Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xuexin

2018-03-01

With the continuous development of social economy, people are more demanding for architecture. Some advanced design concepts are gradually applied to the design of buildings. Under the concept of sustainable development, building integration design has also been widely used to promote the rapid development of architectural design. Integrated design concepts and sustainable development concepts play an important role to meet people’s requirements. This article will explore the concept of sustainable development under the concept of integrated architectural design and practice analysis, propose appropriate measures.

Floating houses “lanting” in Sintang: Assessment on sustainable building materials

Science.gov (United States)

Susanto, D.; Lubis, M. S.

2018-03-01

One important element in the concept of sustainable building is the use of materials. The higher the use of sustainable material in building, the more sustained the building. Lanting is one type of floating construction, usually made from wood, that can be found in settlement along the river, such as in the city of Sintang, West Kalimantan. Lanting is still survive today because it is still used by community whose lives are tied to the river, and also because of its flexible nature that is able to function as a ‘water building’ as well as ‘land building’, and it is also movable, in addition for land limitation in some places. However, the existence of lanting settlements in the city of Sintang faces insistence because it is considered slum, polluting the environment, the scarcity of wooden materials, disturbing the beauty of the city, and threatened by the concretized river banks by local government. This paper discussed the sustainability of waterfront buildings in the city of Sintang in terms of material uses, through the assessment of ‘green-features’ of the main materials used. Assessment results show that wood is the most green building material and lanting is considered at the highest sustainability level for its use of wooden materials.

Success factors of energy performance contracting (EPC) for sustainable building energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) of hotel buildings in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Pengpeng; Chan, Edwin Hon-Wan; Queena Kun Qian

2011-01-01

Hotel building is a type of high-energy-consuming building and most existing hotel buildings need energy efficiency improvement in China. Energy performance contracting (EPC) is considered a win-win mechanism to organize building energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) project. However, EPC mechanism has been introduced into China relatively recently and many EPCs have not been successful in building energy efficiency retrofit projects. This research aims to develop a set of critical success factors (CSFs) of EPC for sustainable energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) of hotel buildings in China. Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey with practitioners and other professionals were conducted. The findings reveal the relative importance of the 21 number of identified success factors. In order to explore the underlying relationship among the identified critical success factors (CSFs), factor analysis method was adopted for further investigation, which leads to grouping the 21 identified CSFs into six clusters. These are (1) project organization process, (2) EPC project financing for hotel retrofit, (3) knowledge and innovation of EPC, sustainable development (SD), and M and V, (4) implementation of sustainable development strategy, (5) contractual arrangement, and (6) external economic environment. Finally, several relevant policies were proposed to implement EPC successfully in sustainable BEER in hotel buildings. - Highlights: → EPC is a win-win mechanism to organize building energy efficiency retrofit project. → CSFs of EPC mechanism for sustainable BEER of hotel building in China are examined. → Six clusters are extracted from 21 identified CSFs based on factor analysis.

Desired, Perceived, and Achieved Sustainability: Trade-Offs in Strategic and Operational Packaging Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bjorn de Koeijer

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The alignment of the strategic and the operational level of packaging development in relation to the integration of sustainability is not addressed extensively in current research. This paper aims to address this, by focusing on the decision-making interrelations of key actors (marketing and packaging development within multidisciplinary product-packaging development teams. The research is conducted by means of a qualitative approach, consisting of semi-structured interviews with individual packaging development team members, complemented with a newly developed visualization tool. The research builds upon eight cases within brand owners, packaging material suppliers and packaging development consultants. The main findings of the study include the decision-making trade-offs between sustainability considerations and other project indicators, such as costs, time-to-market and technical challenges. These trade-offs are linked to the strategic and operational roles of key actors, and to internal and external factors influencing sustainable development processes. This research’s contribution is to address the alignment of the strategic and the operational levels of sustainable packaging development, in relation to (1 decision making and interrelations within multidisciplinary development teams; and (2 the relevance of development-influencing factors. This provides opportunities for further development of sustainable packaging models and tools, in order to align the strategic and operational level of development.

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.

How to use Building Information Systems for a transition towards Sustainable Building Operation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Itard, L.C.M.; Joosstens, F; Heiselberg, Per Kvols

2016-01-01

BIM Building Information Model or Modelling connects many different information
systems from various actors during the building construction process with each
other in one easily accessible and understandable model. BIM assures an effective
and efficient building construction process by

Sustainability in Housing and Dining Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Pursehouse, Clive

2012-01-01

Residential life, housing, and dining operations have the potential to touch all students by integrating sustainability issues into all operations. There are numerous ways that sustainable practices are enacted in campus housing and dining. Although faculty and staff in academic affairs may look strategically at how sustainability can be…

Water sustainable management for buildings Water sustainable management for buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Arturo Ocaña Ponce

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a literature review article that deals with how to manage water in build­ings, specifically in facility projects, in ways to save water during the use, maintenance and operation of the building. This work is aimed at architects, builders and developers, and may be helpful for decision-making in the planning and management of efficient water use in buildings.Este trabajo es un artículo de revisión relacionado con el manejo y gestión del recurso agua, particularmente en proyectos de edificaciones, con el fin de propiciar ahorro de agua durante el uso, mantenimiento y operación del inmueble. Este documento está dirigido a arquitectos, constructores y desarrolladores inmobiliarios y puede ser de gran utilidad para la toma de decisiones en la fase de planeación y de gestión del uso eficiente del agua en los edificios.

Eco-Self-Build Housing Communities: Are They Feasible and Can They Lead to Sustainable and Low Carbon Lifestyles?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steffie Broer

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This paper concerns how sustainable and low carbon living can be enabled in new housing developments in the UK. It is here recognized that consumption of energy and resources is not just what goes into the building, but also long-term through occupancy and activities. Current approaches, which require housing developers to reduce the carbon emissions of the homes they build through a mixture of energy efficiency and renewable energy systems, do not sufficiently contribute to the carbon emission reductions which are necessary for meeting UK Government targets and to avoid dangerous climate change. Purchasing a home ties people in to not just direct consumption of energy (heating, hot water, electricity, but also effects other areas of consumption such as the embedded energy in the building and activities associated with the location and the type of development. Conventional business models for new housing development, operating under current government regulations, policies and targets have failed to develop housing which encourages the adoption of sustainable lifestyles taking whole life consumption into account. An alternative business model of eco-self-build communities is proposed as a way to foster desired behavior change. The feasibility of eco-self-build communities and their scope for supporting low carbon sustainable lifestyles is assessed through stakeholder interviews, and through quantitative assessment of costs, carbon emission reduction potential, and other sustainability impacts of technical and lifestyle options and their combinations. The research shows that eco-self-build communities are both feasible and have the ability to deliver low carbon lifestyles. In comparison to conventional approaches to building new housing, they have further advantages in terms of delivering wider social, environmental as well as economic sustainability objectives. If implemented correctly they could succeed in making sustainable lifestyles

Traditional buildings of Iran as a sign of sustainable architecture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rezaei, Davood; Zare, Mohamad [Faculty of engineering, Zanjan University (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], Email: d_rezaei@znu.ac.ir, email: zaremd@yahoo.com

2011-07-01

With the rising price of energy and increasing concerns over the environment, ways of creating sustainable architecture are getting more and more attention. Buildings in Iran are confronted with a variety of weather conditions and specific measures have been taken to adapt traditional architecture to the environment and minimize energy consumption. The aim of this paper is to present the different materials and solutions used in traditional Iranian architecture. This review showed that sustainable architecture in an arid climate can be realised by the use of soil as a building insulator. Other methods consist in orienting the building in such a way as to absorb sunlight, using wind towers and wind scope, dividing a yard in such a way that different areas are used, depending on the season, and building underground spaces to provide comfortable conditions. This paper highlighted several historical methods and materials which can be used to bring about sustainable architecture in an arid climate.

Towards sustainable public FM: collective building of capabilities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramskov Galamba, Kirsten; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev

2016-01-01

Purpose Public facilities management (FM) is in the unique position of aligning building projects and FM with the policies of sustainable development at societal level. However, sustainable facilities management (SFM) is an emergent profession, and there is a need to build a code of conduct for SFM...... in FM organisations. The purpose is to develop and test a workshop based concept for collective building of capabilities targeting in-house FM organisations, in particular public in-house FM organisations. Design/methodology/approach This research explores the role of public facilities managers...... and examines how an empowerment process can help FM employees develop collective competences for SFM. The methodologies used are literature review, and a 3–year-long action research process in the Danish local authority, Albertslund, which is internationally recognised for its innovative and green profile...

The Dutch sustainable building policy: A model for developing countries?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melchert, Luciana [Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of Sao Paulo, Rua do Lago, 876, CEP 05508.900, Sao Paulo SP (Brazil)

2007-02-15

This article explores the institutionalization of environmental policies in the Dutch building sector and the applicability of the current model to developing countries. First, it analyzes the transition of sustainable building practices in the Netherlands from the 1970s until today, exploring how these were originally embedded in a discourse on 'de-modernization', which attempted to improve the environmental performance of building stocks by means of self-sufficient technologies, whereas nowadays they adopt a framework of 'ecological modernization', with integrative approaches seeking to improve the environmental performance of building stocks through more efficient-rather than self-sufficient-technologies. The study subsequently shows how the current Dutch sustainable building framework has thereby managed to achieve a pragmatic and widely accepted rationale, which can serve to orient the ecological restructuring of building stocks in developing countries. (author)

The use of fiscal instruments in sustainable building policies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sunikka, M.M.

2003-01-01

Although progressive government guidelines and knowledge about sustainable building exist, sustainability measures are not adopted in large scale. Several barriers have been identified, especially the perceived costs of implementing environmental management and the lack of market demand. The choice

Strategies for Sustainable Comfort in Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard, Jørgen

1997-01-01

these goals include phasing out all use of electricity for space heating and for hot water supply. Furthermore building codes should require new buildings to be very well insulated, 30-40 cm mineral wool, for instance, and low energy windows. Similar codes, although not always as strict, should be applied......It is possible within some decades to achieve environmental sustainability in the building sector and at the same time provide a comfortable and healthy life for all Europeans as well as leaving that option open for other people in the world.Buildings are charcterized by having the longest lifetime...... of all capital in our societies, often more than a hundred years. For that reason they should never be designed on the bases of just present cheap energy supply and energy system, but with the long term outlook and risks in mind. New buildings can be designed to require essentially no space heating...

Project Management Plan/Progress Report UT/GTKS Training Program Development for Commercial Building Operators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2013-03-31

Universidad del Turabo (UT), in a collaborative effort with Global Turn Key Services, Inc. (GTKS), proposed to develop a training program and a commercialization plan for the development of Commercial Building Operators (CBOs). The CBOs will operate energy efficient buildings to help maintain existing buildings up to their optimal energy performance level, and ensure that net-zero-energy buildings continuously operate at design specifications, thus helping achieve progress towards meeting BTP Strategic Goals of creating technologies and design approaches that enable net-zero-energy buildings at low incremental costs by 2025. The proposed objectives were then: (1) Develop a Commercial Building Operator (CBO) training program and accreditation that will in turn provide a certification to participants recognized by Accreditation Boards such as the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) and Leadership in Energy & Environmental Designs (LEED). (2) Develop and implement a commercialization and sustainability plan that details marketing, deployment, financial characterization, job placement, and other goals required for long-term sustainability of the project after the funding period. (3) After program development and deployment, provide potential candidates with the knowledge and skill sets to obtain employment in the commercial building green energy (net-zero-energy building) job market. The developed CBO training program will focus on providing skills for participants, such as displaced and unemployed workers, to enter the commercial building green energy (net-zeroenergy building) job market. This course was designed to allow a participant with minimal to no experience in commercial building green technology to obtain the required skill sets to enter the job market in as little as 12 weeks of intensive multi-faceted learning. After completion of the course, the CBO staff concluded the participant will meet minimum established accreditation

Sustainable operations management: A typological approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lawrence Michael Corbett

2009-07-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the nature of sustainability and sustainable development as they relate to operations management. It proposes a typology for sustainable operations management that is based on the life cycle stages of a product and the three dimensions of corporate social responsibility. The aim is to show how this typology development could provide a useful approach to integrating the diverse strands of sustainability in operations, using industrial ecology and carbon neutrality as examples. It does this by providing a focused subset of environmental concerns for an industrial ecology approach, and some research propositions for the issue of carbon neutrality.

"Initiate-build-operate-transfer"--a strategy for establishing sustainable telemedicine programs in developing countries: initial lessons from the balkans.

Science.gov (United States)

Latifi, Rifat; Merrell, Ronald C; Doarn, Charles R; Hadeed, George J; Bekteshi, Flamur; Lecaj, Ismet; Boucha, Kathe; Hajdari, Fatmir; Hoxha, Astrit; Koshi, Dashurije; de Leonni Stanonik, Mateja; Berisha, Blerim; Novoberdaliu, Kadri; Imeri, Arben; Weinstein, Ronald S

2009-12-01

Establishing sustainable telemedicine has become a goal of many developing countries around the world. Yet, despite initiatives from a select few individuals and on occasion from various governments, often these initiatives never mature to become sustainable programs. The introduction of telemedicine and e-learning in Kosova has been a pivotal step in advancing the quality and availability of medical services in a region whose infrastructure and resources have been decimated by wars, neglect, lack of funding, and poor management. The concept and establishment of the International Virtual e-Hospital (IVeH) has significantly impacted telemedicine and e-health services in the Balkans. The success of the IVeH in Kosova has led to the development of similar programs in other Balkan countries and other developing countries in the hope of modernizing and improving their healthcare infrastructure. A comprehensive, four-pronged strategy, "Initiate-Build-Operate-Transfer" (IBOT), may be a useful approach in establishing telemedicine and e-health educational services in developing countries. The development strategy, IBOT, used by the IVeH to establish and develop telemedicine programs, was discussed. IBOT includes assessment of healthcare needs of each country, the development of a curriculum and education program, the establishment of a nationwide telemedicine network, and the integration of the telemedicine program into the healthcare infrastructure. The endpoint is the transfer of a sustainable telehealth program to the nation involved. By applying IBOT, a sustainable telemedicine program of Kosova has been established as an effective prototype for telemedicine in the Balkans. Once fully matured, the program will be transitioned to the national Ministry of Health, which ensures the sustainability and ownership of the program. Similar programs are being established in Albania, Macedonia, and other countries around the world. The IBOT model has been effective in creating

Evaluation of a School Building in Turkey According to the Basic Sustainable Design Criteria

Science.gov (United States)

Arslan, H. D.

2017-08-01

In Turkey, as well as many other developing countries, the significance of sustainable education buildings has only recently become recognized and the issue of sustainability issue has not been sufficiently involved in laws and regulations. In this study, first of all architectural sustainability with basic design criteria has been explained. After that selected type primary school project in Turkey has been evaluated according to the sustainable design criteria. Type project of school buildings significantly limits the sustainability performance expected from buildings. It is clear that type projects shorten the planning time as they include a designing process that is independent of settlement and they are repeated in various places with different characteristics, indeed. On the other hand; abundance of disadvantages such as the overlook of the natural physical and structural properties of the location mostly restricts the sustainable design of the building. For sustainable buildings, several factors such as the environment, land, climate, insolation, direction etc. shall be taken into consideration at the beginning stage. Therefore; implementation of type projects can be deemed to be inappropriate for sustainability.

Energy Performance of Buildings - The European Approach to Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heiselberg, Per

2006-01-01

This paper presents the European approach to improve sustainability in the building sector, which has a very high potential for considerable reduction of energy consumption in the coming years. By approving the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive the European Union has taken a strong...... leadership role in promoting energy efficiency in buildings in Europe, that will be the most powerful instrument developed to date for the building sector in Europe....

An Investigation into Energy Requirements and Conservation Techniques for Sustainable Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Robitaille, Jad

Traditionally, societies use to design their built environment in a way that was in line with the climate and the geographical location that they evolved in, thereby supporting sustainable lifestyles (i.e. thick walls with small windows in cold climates). With the industrial revolution and the heavy use and reliance on cheap fossil fuels, it can be argued that the built environment has become more focused on aesthetics and cost savings rather than on true sustainability. This, in turn, has led to energy intensive practices associated with the construction of homes, buildings, cities and megalopolises. Environmental concerns with regards to the future have pushed people, entities and industries to search for ways to decrease human's energy dependency and/or to supply the demand in ways that are deemed sustainable. Efforts to address this concern with respect to the built environment were translated into 'green buildings', sustainable building technologies and high performance buildings that can be rated and/or licensed by selected certifying bodies with varying metrics of building construction and performance. The growing number of such systems has brought real concerns: Do certified sustainable buildings really achieve the level of sustainability (i.e. performance) they were intended to? For the purpose of this study, buildings' energy consumption will be analysed, as it is one of the main drivers when taking into consideration greenhouse gas emissions. Heating and cooling in the residential and commercial/institutional sector, combined account for approximately a fifth of the secondary energy use in Canada. For this reason, this research aims at evaluating the main rating systems in Canada based on the efficacy of their rating systems' certification methodology and the weighting and comparison of energy requirements under each scheme. It has been proven through numerous studies that major energy savings can be achieved by focusing primarily on building designs

A Real-Time Recording Model of Key Indicators for Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions of Sustainable Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Weiwei; Yang, Huanjia; Chew, David; Hou, Yanhong; Li, Qiming

2014-01-01

Buildings' sustainability is one of the crucial parts for achieving urban sustainability. Applied to buildings, life-cycle assessment encompasses the analysis and assessment of the environmental effects of building materials, components and assemblies throughout the entire life of the building construction, use and demolition. Estimate of carbon emissions is essential and crucial for an accurate and reasonable life-cycle assessment. Addressing the need for more research into integrating analysis of real-time and automatic recording of key indicators for a more accurate calculation and comparison, this paper aims to design a real-time recording model of these crucial indicators concerning the calculation and estimation of energy use and carbon emissions of buildings based on a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based system. The architecture of the RFID-based carbon emission recording/tracking system, which contains four functional layers including data record layer, data collection/update layer, data aggregation layer and data sharing/backup layer, is presented. Each of these layers is formed by RFID or network devices and sub-systems that operate at a specific level. In the end, a proof-of-concept system is developed to illustrate the implementation of the proposed architecture and demonstrate the feasibility of the design. This study would provide the technical solution for real-time recording system of building carbon emissions and thus is of great significance and importance to improve urban sustainability. PMID:24831109

Sustainable Rest Area Design and Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

One way in which State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) can modernize their rest areas while reducing operations and maintenance costs is by incorporating sustainable practices into rest area design and operations. Sustainability practices that D...

Sustainable building with closed cavity facades. Top energy efficiency and more daylight; Nachhaltig bauen mit Closed Cavity Fassaden. Hoechste Energieeffizienz und mehr Tageslicht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rudolf, Bernhard

2012-08-15

Facades have a key function within the sustainable construction since the energy conservation significantly depends on the building envelope. Beside an enhanced energy efficiency, the Green Building shall offer an improved utilization of day-lighting and comfortable indoor climatic conditions. Here, the innovative Closed Cavity Facade new standards. The former 'Poseidon building' in Frankfurt/Main (Federal Republic of Germany) and the multi-storey building of the Roche company in Basel (Switzerland) are equipped with this facade. The energy costs, operational costs as well as the maintenance costs are reduced sustainably using this closed bivalved facade.

Building Fit-for-Purpose Spatial Frameworks for Sustainable Land Governaqnce in Sub-Sahara Africa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enemark, Stig

2013-01-01

SUMMARY Arguably sound land governance is the key to achieve sustainable development and to support the global agenda set by adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The operational component of land governance is the country specific land administration systems dealing with the four...... then be incrementally improved over time when relevant and justified by serving the needs of citizen, business and society in general. Such a fit-for-purpose approach is fundamental for building adequate land administration systems in developing regions in support of sustainable land governance. In most developed...... key functions of land tenure, land value, land, and land development. Land administration systems, whether highly advanced or very basic, require a spatial framework to operate. Spatial frameworks identify the spatial units such as land parcels, as a basis for dealing with land administration...

Building a Metaframework for Sustainable Transport Indicators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cornet, Yannick; Gudmundsson, Henrik

2015-01-01

Several recent papers presented at TRB and elsewhere seek to make sustainability manageable by suggesting indicators and performance measures as key tools to help conceptualize and operationalize sustainability for various levels of transportation-related planning and decision-making. These studies...... often prescribe frameworks that will allow sustainability indicators and measures to be selected and included in, for example, agency strategies and practices. Moreover, some suggest criteria for selection of individual indicators and performance measures. The studies do however not always agree on what...... of the paper is first to provide a theoretical elaboration of the underlying notion of ‘frameworks’, and then to conduct a review of the selected recent key scientific studies on sustainable transportation indicator frameworks in terms of what they propose for building the meta-framework and for identifying...

Sustainable building versus ecological building

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

2010-04-01

Full Text Available and sensitivity to a site that are required to efficiently meet the energy needs of a building and occupants with renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, etc), designers must apply holistic design principles and take advantage of the free, naturally... monumental waste: the product which they deliver requires resources such as energy and water to operate over its entire life-cycle, a period measured in decades, and often in centuries. Throughout this process, construction activities often result...

Towards a fourth skin? sustainability and double-envelope buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diprose, P.R.; Robertson, G. [Auckland Univ. (New Zealand)

1996-05-01

In several well publicised designs for `green` office buildings, the zone of meditation between inside and outside has been increased by the addition of a second building envelope. When interpreted as exemplars of sustainable architecture, the addition of a second wall in these buildings is questionable both biophysically and psycho-culturally. More constructive design strategies acknowledge the wider biophysical contexts of the human ecosystem, the prudent use of material and energy resources throughout a building`s life, make realistic use of climate, and promote psycho-cultural needs arising out of ecologism. (author)

Indicators of sustainable capacity building for health research: analysis of four African case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Imelda; Taegtmeyer, Miriam; Squire, S Bertel; Ansong, Daniel; Nhlema-Simwaka, Bertha; Baba, Amuda; Theobald, Sally

2011-03-28

Despite substantial investment in health capacity building in developing countries, evaluations of capacity building effectiveness are scarce. By analysing projects in Africa that had successfully built sustainable capacity, we aimed to identify evidence that could indicate that capacity building was likely to be sustainable. Four projects were selected as case studies using pre-determined criteria, including the achievement of sustainable capacity. By mapping the capacity building activities in each case study onto a framework previously used for evaluating health research capacity in Ghana, we were able to identify activities that were common to all projects. We used these activities to derive indicators which could be used in other projects to monitor progress towards building sustainable research capacity. Indicators of sustainable capacity building increased in complexity as projects matured and included- early engagement of stakeholders; explicit plans for scale up; strategies for influencing policies; quality assessments (awareness and experiential stages)- improved resources; institutionalisation of activities; innovation (expansion stage)- funding for core activities secured; management and decision-making led by southern partners (consolidation stage).Projects became sustainable after a median of 66 months. The main challenges to achieving sustainability were high turnover of staff and stakeholders, and difficulties in embedding new activities into existing systems, securing funding and influencing policy development. Our indicators of sustainable capacity building need to be tested prospectively in a variety of projects to assess their usefulness. For each project the evidence required to show that indicators have been achieved should evolve with the project and they should be determined prospectively in collaboration with stakeholders.

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.

ICT applications for energy efficiency in buildings. Report from the KTH Centre for Sustainable Communication

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kramers, Anna H.; Svane, Oerjan

2011-07-01

The project 'ICT as a Motor of Transition' aims to examine how the innovative application of ICT can contribute to more energy-efficient transport habits and facilitate more sustainable ways of managing and using buildings, without the need for drastic changes in the city's physical structure. The project is an extended in-depth study and forms part of current research into urban sustainable development in the SitCit project at KTH Environmental Strategies Research (fms). The full title of the SitCit project is 'Situations of Opportunity in the Growth and Change of Three Stockholm City Districts - Everyday Life, Built Environment and Transport Explored as Energy Usage Systems and Governance Networks' (SitCit, 2010). It is an ongoing, cross-disciplinary, five-year project in collaboration with the Department of Energy Technology at KTH. An important part of the SitCit project is a methodological approach that integrates actors and measures in describing a process of change, in other words to look at 'What' can be transformed in parallel with transformation 'By Whom'? The 'ICT as a Motor of Transition' project focused on ICT solutions for energy-efficient and sustainable ways of managing and using buildings in the existing built environment. ICT could play a role as a key enabler for decreasing energy usage in buildings and at the same time create new business opportunities driven by the need for energy efficiency. Throughout the life cycle of a building, most energy ({approx}80%) is used during the operational stage (REEB, 2009a). The decisions made in the early design stages or in renovation stages for existing buildings thus influence about 80% of the total life cycle energy usage, while the impact of user behaviour and real-time control is in the range of 20% (REEB, 2009a). Therefore there is an urgent need to find new possibilities to decrease the energy usage in buildings. The overarching aim of this study

A Real-Time Recording Model of Key Indicators for Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions of Sustainable Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiwei Wu

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Buildings’ sustainability is one of the crucial parts for achieving urban sustainability. Applied to buildings, life-cycle assessment encompasses the analysis and assessment of the environmental effects of building materials, components and assemblies throughout the entire life of the building construction, use and demolition. Estimate of carbon emissions is essential and crucial for an accurate and reasonable life-cycle assessment. Addressing the need for more research into integrating analysis of real-time and automatic recording of key indicators for a more accurate calculation and comparison, this paper aims to design a real-time recording model of these crucial indicators concerning the calculation and estimation of energy use and carbon emissions of buildings based on a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID-based system. The architecture of the RFID-based carbon emission recording/tracking system, which contains four functional layers including data record layer, data collection/update layer, data aggregation layer and data sharing/backup layer, is presented. Each of these layers is formed by RFID or network devices and sub-systems that operate at a specific level. In the end, a proof-of-concept system is developed to illustrate the implementation of the proposed architecture and demonstrate the feasibility of the design. This study would provide the technical solution for real-time recording system of building carbon emissions and thus is of great significance and importance to improve urban sustainability.

Tour operators, environment and sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andriola, L.; Chirico, R.; Declich, P.

2001-01-01

The purpose of this work is to characterize the role of the tour operators in achieving sustainable development meaning a process of development which leaves at least the same amount of capital, natural and man-made, to future generations as current generations have access to. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global industries, creating significant employment and economic development, particularly in many developing countries. Tourism can also have negative environmental and social impact resulting from resource consumption, pollution, generation of wastes and from the compromise of local culture while introducing new activities. Most tour operators has started to recognised that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few tour operators have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimize their negative environmental and social impacts. A group of tour operators from different parts of the world have joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this initiatives, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to address the environmental, social, and cultural aspects of sustainable development within the tourism sector [it

Perceptions of building professionals on sustainable development: A comparative study between Hong Kong and Shenyang

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lo, S.M.; Zhao, C.M.; Cheng, W.Y. [Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

2006-07-01

It is logical to believe that the building professionals (architect, structural engineers, building services engineers, etc.) are the relevant persons that may influence the decision-making process on a real estate development process. Accordingly, the attitudes and perception of building professionals should have a significant influence on sustainable development. This article describes a survey concerning the perceptions of different building professionals, which include architects, construction engineers and building services engineers, on the environment, resource sustainability, and green consumerism in two major cities in China: Hong Kong and Shenyang. It is recognized that energy is central to sustainable development and in 2006/2007, the United Nation Commission on Sustainable Development will focus on energy issue. The discussion in this article will concentrate on the building professionals' perception on energy related issues. Nevertheless, the findings in respect of their awareness of the environment, resources sustainability and other related issues are also summarized. At global level, apart from the need to preserve historical buildings, the professionals in Shenyang feel that 'exhaustion of natural resources' is of major concern and energy preservation is significant. However, the Hong Kong professionals do not consider energy resource sustainability is of urgency. (author)

76 FR 71996 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Capacity Building for Sustainable...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-21

... Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program AGENCY... proposal. The Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program (Program), through a Notice of Funding...: Title of Proposal: Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program OMB Approval Number: 2501-0026...

Building an Economical and Sustainable Lunar Infrastructure to Enable Lunar Industrialization

Science.gov (United States)

Zuniga, Allison F.; Turner, Mark; Rasky, Daniel; Loucks, Mike; Carrico, John; Policastri, Daniel

2017-01-01

delivery and surface power generation, in partnership with industry; 2) incentivize industry to establish economical and sustainable lunar infrastructure services to support NASA missions and initiate lunar commerce; and 3) encourage creation of new space markets for economic growth and benefit. A phased-development approach was also studied to allow for incremental development and demonstration of capabilities needed to build a lunar infrastructure. This paper will describe the Lunar COTS concept goals, objectives and approach for building an economical and sustainable lunar infrastructure. It will also describe the technical challenges and advantages of developing and operating each infrastructure element. It will also describe the potential benefits and progress that can be accomplished in the initial phase of this Lunar COTS approach. Finally, the paper will also look forward to the potential of a robust lunar industrialization environment and its potential effect on the next 50 years of space exploration.

IDES-EDU – new interdisciplinary education program for Sustainable Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dvorakova, Pavla; Kabele, Karel; Brunsgaard, Camilla

2013-01-01

Buildings fulfilling all requirements related to energy, economy and environment are necessary to be designed by interdisciplinary teams with efficient transfer of information and good knowledge base. IDES EDU is a project co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe program in which 15 European...... universities make a concerted effort to develop and implement balanced master and postgraduate courses on Sustainable Energy Design providing skills and knowledge that exceed the requirements of the EPBD. The resulting courses focus on different aspects of sustainable building design from the perspective...

Delivering competence based training and capacity building to support sustainable uranium mining in less prepared areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miko Dit Angoula, I.; Tulsidas, H.

2014-01-01

The IAEA project “Supporting sustainable uranium mining in less prepared areas” consists of a 3-year catalytic training and capacity building of a range of work packages/tasks targeted on technical, operational, regulatory, environmental, stakeholders and governance needs in uranium mining of African francophone uranium producer or potential producer countries. The project is externally funded by a contribution from the USA. The scope is defined by the identification and the delivery of training and further capacity-building measures to enhance national and regional preparedness in these francophone Member States for the conduct of sustainable uranium mining and production, with particular reference to environmental, social, economic issues and good governance within the context of fostering good, safe practices in the comprehensive extraction of all possible economic resources from the mining process.

Sustainability Assessment: Energy Efficiency in Buildings at a Community University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephane Louise Bocasanta

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This research aims to analyze the degree of sustainability of a building in a community university (object of analysis, as regards its energy efficiency. Therefore, it seeks out to contribute to the literature, provide a basis for the application of SICOGEA system in other buildings and contribute to the consolidation of an effective and consistent environmental management system. The research can be classified, as to its technical procedures, as a case study. As to its objectives it is descriptive, with a qualitative approach. The literature on environmental management and sustainability assessment of buildings was used to support the research. As to the results found, the overall University sustainability rate was 48%, which can be classified as regular, that is, it aims to deal with the legislation only. Therefore, it is believed that the institution can make improvements to achieve a more efficient index. By taking into consideration the deficit items, the following is suggested: to introduce sustainable procurement; to strive for stamps and certifications; to avoid environmental fines and indemnity; and to implement environmental auditing. However, it is clarified that these are suggestions that should be taken into consideration along with financial matters and within the institution planning questions. The analysis of financial sustainability was considered good and, ideally, it will go on.

77 FR 10543 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program for...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-22

... Awards for the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program for Fiscal Year 2011 AGENCY: Office... INFORMATION: The Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities Program identifies intermediary organizations... announces the allocation total of $5.65 million for Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities grants, of...

Early stage decision support for sustainable building renovation – A review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Anne Nørkjær; Jensen, Rasmus Lund; Larsen, Tine Steen

2016-01-01

Decision support tools for building renovation are important as assistance to professional building owners when setting goals for sustainability, and for making sure that the objectives are met throughout the design process, both when renovating a single building or choosing renovation actions wi...

Sustainable construction - the standard for all public building?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Handyside, R. [Richard Handyside Construction Resources (United Kingdom)

2002-01-01

This article argues for the need for foresight and planning to achieve sustainable development in the construction of public buildings. Reasons why sustainable development fails are highlighted, and the key factors that go to make a development sustainable are listed and involve the choice and layout of the site, site services, the fitting of spaces to the required purpose, the arrangement of rooms to achieve maximum use of natural light, heat and air, and the choice of construction materials and finishes. The balancing of short and long-term costs, and the use of life-cycle costs in every project are discussed.

Early stage design decisions: the way to achieve sustainable buildings at lower costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Bragança, Luís; Vieira, Susana M; Andrade, Joana B

2014-01-01

The construction industry attempts to produce buildings with as lower environmental impact as possible. However, construction activities still greatly affect environment; therefore, it is necessary to consider a sustainable project approach based on its performance. Sustainability is an important issue to consider in design, not only due to environmental concerns but also due to economic and social matters, promoting architectural quality and economic advantages. This paper aims to identify the phases through which a design project should be developed, emphasising the importance and ability of earlier stages to influence sustainability, performance, and life cycle cost. Then, a selection of sustainability key indicators, able to be used at the design conceptual phase and able to start predicting environmental sustainability performance of buildings is presented. The output of this paper aimed to enable designers to compare and evaluate the consequences of different design solutions, based on preliminary data, and facilitate the collaboration between stakeholders and clients and eventually yield a sustainable and high performance building throughout its life cycle.

Community capacity building and sustainability: outcomes of community-based participatory research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hacker, Karen; Tendulkar, Shalini A; Rideout, Catlin; Bhuiya, Nazmim; Trinh-Shevrin, Chau; Savage, Clara P; Grullon, Milagro; Strelnick, Hal; Leung, Carolyn; DiGirolamo, Ann

2012-01-01

For communities, the value of community-based participatory research (CBPR) is often manifested in the outcomes of increased capacity and sustainable adoption of evidence-based practices for social change. Educational opportunities that promote discourse between community and academic partners can help to advance CBPR and better define these outcomes. This paper describes a community-academic conference to develop shared definitions of community capacity building and sustainability related to CBPR and to identify obstacles and facilitators to both. "Taking It to the Curbside: Engaging Communities to Create Sustainable Change for Health" was planned by five Clinical Translational Science Institutes and four community organizations. After a keynote presentation, breakout groups of community and academic members met to define community capacity building and sustainability, and to identify facilitators and barriers to achieving both. Groups were facilitated by researcher-community partner teams and conversations were recorded and transcribed. Qualitative analysis for thematic content was conducted by a subset of the planning committee. Important findings included learning that (1) the concepts of capacity and sustainability were considered interconnected; (2) partnership was perceived as both a facilitator and an outcome of CBPR; (3) sustainability was linked to "transfer of knowledge" from one generation to another within a community; and (4) capacity and sustainability were enhanced when goals were shared and health outcomes were achieved. Community capacity building and sustainability are key outcomes of CBPR for communities. Co-learning opportunities that engage and mutually educate both community members and academics can be useful strategies for identifying meaningful strategies to achieve these outcomes.

Sustainable flexible process innovation. Towards a new building design approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brand, G.J.W. van den; Quanjel, E.; Zeiler, W.

2001-01-01

Developers and investors ofresidential and office buildings are facing large risks. A yearly loss ofcapital of approximately 50 billion EURO can be reduced by improvement of the design process. The need for more sustainable and end user oriented buildings on a background ofthe dynamics ofever

AccountAbility 1000: a new social standard for building sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beckett, R.; Jonker, J.

2002-01-01

The pressing need to build common frameworks to redefine the performance and sustainability of organisations, has led to the development of a new standard, AccountAbility 1000 (AA1000). AA1000 is a quality framework that aims to make clear how principles of accountability and sustainability are

Design decision support for sustainable, healthier and more productive buildings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeiler, W.; Maaijen, H.N.; Maassen, W.H.; Morawska, L.; Dear, de R.

2012-01-01

There is a clear need for more sustainable, healthier and thus more productive solutions within the built environment. However at the moment the initial investment costs for applying new and more sustainable solutions for a good Indoor Air Quality within buildings are higher than the traditional

Increase in buildings sustainability by using renewable materials and energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milutiene, Edita [Kaunas University of Technology, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas (Lithuania); Lithuanian Solar Energy Association, Kaunas (Lithuania); Straw Houses Builders' Association, Kaunas (Lithuania); Staniskis, Jurgis K. [Kaunas University of Technology, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas (Lithuania); Krucius, Audrys [Straw Houses Builders' Association, Kaunas (Lithuania); JSK ' ' Ecococon' ' , Kaunas (Lithuania); Auguliene, Vida [Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service under the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, Kaunas (Lithuania); Ardickas, Daumilas [University of Cambridge, Girton College, Cambridge (United Kingdom)

2012-12-15

Sustainable development could be seen as indispensable condition for survival of civilization. Construction sector is a field with immediate need for reducing environmental impacts. Sustainability measures applied for buildings could produce very efficient results to the people. The paper provides the methods of construction sustainability increase by researching, developing, and applying the technologies which use renewable materials and energy. The paper analyzes the cases of both a solar eco house which was built of original prefabricated straw-bale panels and was designed to use direct solar energy; and an educational project promoting straw-bale construction and seeking to mitigate climate change. The project results have shown the need of spreading information on sustainable building methods to be accepted by wider society and to be applied to the construction industry. Monitoring of solar ecohouse has proved that direct solar energy gains are significant in reducing heating degree-days in 55 N latitude and in allowing to save half the energy needed for heating. (orig.)

Sustainable Renovation of Residential Buildings and the Landlord/Tenant Dilemma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ástmarsson, Björn; Jensen, Per Anker; Maslesa, Esmir

2013-01-01

solutions can help solve the landlord/tenant dilemma in relation to sustainable renovation of residential buildings, and how the general awareness of sustainable renovation can be increased. Particular focus is on whether tools like energy performance contracting and energy labeling can help solve......The landlord/tenant dilemma arises when the interests of landlords and tenants misalign and is one of the greatest barriers hindering the development of sustainable renovation of residential buildings in Europe. The aim of this research is to investigate how regulatory changes and contractual...... be overcome with a package solution. In the Danish national context the package solution must consist of legislative changes, financial incentives and better dissemination of information. Therefore, an array of different tools must be integrated and used in cooperation to overcome the dilemma....

Early Stage Design Decisions: The Way to Achieve Sustainable Buildings at Lower Costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luís Bragança

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The construction industry attempts to produce buildings with as lower environmental impact as possible. However, construction activities still greatly affect environment; therefore, it is necessary to consider a sustainable project approach based on its performance. Sustainability is an important issue to consider in design, not only due to environmental concerns but also due to economic and social matters, promoting architectural quality and economic advantages. This paper aims to identify the phases through which a design project should be developed, emphasising the importance and ability of earlier stages to influence sustainability, performance, and life cycle cost. Then, a selection of sustainability key indicators, able to be used at the design conceptual phase and able to start predicting environmental sustainability performance of buildings is presented. The output of this paper aimed to enable designers to compare and evaluate the consequences of different design solutions, based on preliminary data, and facilitate the collaboration between stakeholders and clients and eventually yield a sustainable and high performance building throughout its life cycle.

Early Stage Design Decisions: The Way to Achieve Sustainable Buildings at Lower Costs

Science.gov (United States)

Bragança, Luís; Vieira, Susana M.; Andrade, Joana B.

2014-01-01

The construction industry attempts to produce buildings with as lower environmental impact as possible. However, construction activities still greatly affect environment; therefore, it is necessary to consider a sustainable project approach based on its performance. Sustainability is an important issue to consider in design, not only due to environmental concerns but also due to economic and social matters, promoting architectural quality and economic advantages. This paper aims to identify the phases through which a design project should be developed, emphasising the importance and ability of earlier stages to influence sustainability, performance, and life cycle cost. Then, a selection of sustainability key indicators, able to be used at the design conceptual phase and able to start predicting environmental sustainability performance of buildings is presented. The output of this paper aimed to enable designers to compare and evaluate the consequences of different design solutions, based on preliminary data, and facilitate the collaboration between stakeholders and clients and eventually yield a sustainable and high performance building throughout its life cycle. PMID:24578630

Evaluation of possibility to increasing sustainability of high-rise buildings through use university intellectual property

Science.gov (United States)

Potekhin, Igor; Mischenko, Valeryi; Mottaeva, Angela; Zheltenkov, Alexander

2018-03-01

In this article explained approach of valuation of intellectual property of Voronezh State Technical University, as her usefulness to increasing the sustainability and ecological safety of high-rise building. High-rise building is main type of buildings in modern cities. They include large volume of material mass, high volume of energy using and high volume of emissions. Using innovation solutions to improving ecology safety of high-rise buildings has large potential to city in whole. Explained in the article methods of calculation of effects helps to value sustainable solutions of present and future generations. Thus usefulness of patents express through usefulness regarding to high-rise building, including for sustainable development.

Sustainability needs and practices assessment in the building industry of China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Pingjian; He, Gang; Mao, Guozhu; Liu, Yong; Xu, Mingzhu; Guo, Huaicheng; Liu, Xi

2013-01-01

The building industry in China has huge potential capacity for energy/resources conservation and pollutants reduction to achieve sustainable development. However, stakeholders are hardly able to reach a consensus on preferential needs and effective solutions, which was a difficulty faced by policy makers. To better identify the common interests on sustainable development in this field, the Sustainability Solutions Navigator (SSN) was adopted in China for the first time to assess the sustainability needs and practices. Based on the participation of stakeholders from the government, businesses, academia, and non-government organizations, prioritized needs and practices were identified using SSN, and gap analyses were conducted for comparison to global benchmarks. According to the results, the top needs were mainly focused on improving government efficiency and implementation, maintaining healthy indoor environments and obtaining adequate funds; priority practices were mainly focused on governmental action, renewable energy development and pollutant source reduction. The gap analysis indicated that the government efficiency and performance had the largest gap to the benchmark. By using a simple interactive tool to bring different stakeholders into policy making process, this study produces all-around information for decision makers. The results imply that the sustainability of the building industry in China has a much better expectation than governmental performance. - Highlights: ► SSN was first used for sustainability assessment in China's building industry. ► Prioritized needs and practices of multiple stakeholders were identified. ► High expectation of improved governmental efforts from the study

Implementing Sustainability into Supply Chain Operations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørsfeldt, Lilyana Makarowa

2016-01-01

empirical studies have investigated in detail how sustainability agendas are implemented or how they affect supply chain operations. These studies have mostly investigated the impact of implementation, explored the relationship between strategy formulation and performance, or provided descriptions...... chain practices? Research Question 2. How does a new agenda of sustainability affect supplier-buyer relationships? Research Question 3. How does operational coordination between suppliers and customers change with the introduction of a sustainability agenda? To answer these specific research questions...... and present a simplified model to explore the complexity of the phenomenon. (2) Means for the deployment (i.e., successful implementation) of a sustainability agenda in supply chain practices are identified. The discussion of means provides some explanations for relationships among frameworks components. More...

Towards evaluation and prediction of building sustainability using life cycle behaviour simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marzouk Mohamed

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays researchers and practitioners are oriented towards questioning how effective are the different building life cycle activities contribution to preserving the environment and fulfilling the need for equilibrium. Terminologies such as Building sustainability and Green Buildings have long been adopted yet the evaluation of such has been driven through the use of rating systems. LEED of the United States, BREEAM of the United Kingdom, and Pearl of the United Arab Emirates are namely good examples of these rating systems. This paper introduces a new approach for evaluation of building life cycle sustainability through simulation of activities interaction and studying its behaviour. The effort focuses on comprehending impact and effect of suitability related activities over the whole building life cycle or period of time. The methodology includes gathering a pool of parameters through benchmarking of five selected rating systems, analytical factorization for the gathered parameters is used to elect the most influencing parameters. Followed by simulation modelling using System dynamics to capture the interaction of the considered parameters. The resulting behaviour obtained from simulation is studied and used in designing a tool for prediction of sustainability.

Evaluation System sustainable building of the Federal State. Evidence of sustainability criteria for the new construction of office and administration buildings; Bewertungssystem Nachhaltiges Bauen des Bundes. Nachweis der Nachhaltigkeitskriterien fuer den Neubau von Buero- und Verwaltungsgebaeuden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kerz, Nicolas; Rietz, Andreas [Bundesinstitut fuer Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR), Berlin (Germany)

2011-07-01

Numerous research projects funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany) are the essential basis for the emergence of a systematic sustainability assessment. After two years of cooperation with the German Sustainable Building Council (Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany) a scientifically substantiated and design based process of evaluation for the construction of administrative buildings was available. On the basis of a practical testing the system of evaluating of sustainability was refined to a ''rating system for sustainable building''. The contribution under consideration reports on the structure and methodology of this evaluation system as well as on working materials and tools for planning and evaluation.

Evaluating the engagement of universities in capacity building for sustainable development in local communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiel, Chris; Leal Filho, Walter; do Paço, Arminda; Brandli, Luciana

2016-02-01

Universities have the potential to play a leading role in enabling communities to develop more sustainable ways of living and working however, sustainable communities may only emerge with facilitation, community learning and continual efforts to build their capacities. Elements of programme planning and evaluation on the one hand, and capacity building on the other, are needed. The latter entails approaches and processes that may contribute to community empowerment; universities may either lead such approaches, or be key partners in an endeavour to empower communities to address the challenges posed by the need for sustainable development. Although capacity building and the promotion of sustainable development locally, are on the agenda for universities who take seriously regional engagement, very little is published that illustrates or describes the various forms of activities that take place. Further, there is a paucity of studies that have evaluated the work performed by universities in building capacity for sustainable development at the local level. This paper is an attempt to address this need, and entails an empirical study based on a sample of universities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Brazil. The paper examines the extent to which capacity building for sustainable development is being undertaken, suggests the forms that this might take and evaluates some of the benefits for local communities. The paper concludes by reinforcing that universities have a critical role to play in community development; that role has to prioritise the sustainability agenda. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

BUILDING NEW BUSINESS MODELS FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

OpenAIRE

Taco C. R. van Someren; Shuhua van Someren-Wang

2011-01-01

Considered are issues of methodology and methods, as well as ideology of strategic innovation. Using the tools of this approach is offered as mechanisms to develop and build business models for sustainable socio-economic economic growth and development of different regions. The connection between key problems of sustainable development and management policy of different economic entities is studied. The consultancy company Ynnovate’s experience in addressing these issues in the EU and China i...

Sustainable hemp-based composites for the building industry application

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarzova, Ivana; Stevulova, Nadezda; Junak, Jozef; Hospodarova, Viola

2017-07-01

Sustainability goals are essential driving principles for the development of innovative materials in the building industry. Natural plant (e.g. hemp) fibers represent an attractive alternative as reinforcing material due to its good properties and sustainability prerequisites. In this study, hemp-based composite materials, designed for building application as non-load bearing material, providing both thermal insulation and physico-mechanical properties, are presented. Composite materials were produced by bonding hemp hurds with a novel inorganic binder (MgO-based cement) and then were characterized in terms of physical properties (bulk density, water absorption), thermal properties (thermal conductivity) and mechanical properties (compressive and tensile strength). The composites exhibited promising physical, thermal and mechanical characteristics, generally comparable to commercially available products. In addition, the hemp-based composites have the advantage of a significantly low environmental impact (thanks to the nature of both the dispersed and the binding phase) and no negative effects on human health. All things considered, the composite materials seem like very promising materials for the building industry application.

Delivering Sustainable Facilities Management in Danish Housing Estates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Jesper Ole; Jensen, Per Anker

2009-01-01

Housing plays a central role in sustainable development due to large resource consumption and as transition agent towards sustainable lifestyles. The aim is to evaluate current practice of housing administration in Denmark in order to evaluate if and how sustainable facilities management is suppo......Housing plays a central role in sustainable development due to large resource consumption and as transition agent towards sustainable lifestyles. The aim is to evaluate current practice of housing administration in Denmark in order to evaluate if and how sustainable facilities management...... is supporting social, economical and environmental sustainable development. Sustainable facility management (SFM) is as an 'umbrella' for various ways of reducing flows of energy, water and waste in the daily operation of the buildings, for instance by regular monitoring the consumption, by using 'green......-setting including the ownership of the building, the organisation of daily operation, the roles and relation between stakeholders are equally important in order to utilise the monitoring as a mean for transformation towards sustainable buildings and lifestyles....

Application of Sensitivity Analysis in Design of Sustainable Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heiselberg, Per; Brohus, Henrik; Rasmussen, Henrik

2009-01-01

satisfies the design objectives and criteria. In the design of sustainable buildings, it is beneficial to identify the most important design parameters in order to more efficiently develop alternative design solutions or reach optimized design solutions. Sensitivity analyses make it possible to identify...... possible to influence the most important design parameters. A methodology of sensitivity analysis is presented and an application example is given for design of an office building in Denmark....

Gamification as a Means to User Involvement in Decision-making Processes for Sustainable Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Hanne Tine Ring; Knudstrup, Mary-Ann; Skøtt, Stine

2017-01-01

of life. Design thinking was used as method to develop a tool that focuses on how to make sustainable strategy development accessible to non-specialists during those critical stages of building design processes when goals and prioritisations are set. The tool is based on an open and editable platform...... and it will be available to the public in the early Summer of 2017. The paper presents how design thinking is used as an engaging research and development methodology, as well as, an introduction to the dialogue and prioritisation tool’s content and format.......User ownership, actors’ and stakeholders’ lack of knowledge is often identified as critical success parameters and barriers when evaluating how well sustainable buildings perform. Recognising that it is impossible to drive sustainable development without the people who pay for sustainable buildings...

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.

HVAC in sustainable office buildings a bridge between owners and engineers

CERN Document Server

Hovorka, Frank; Kurnitski, Jarek; Litiu, Andrei

2012-01-01

This guidebook aims to build a bridge between the real estate community and the engineering community. It explains the challenges of property valuation based on real data and how the sustainability and HVAC-technology can have an impact on value. It also gathers the latest HVAC- and other technologies used in sustainable buildings and gives some real case study examples. But maybe the most important part in terms of improved communication between the owners and engineers is the list of questions to be asked during the life time of a building. It is impossible to give all the right answers in this guidebook, but we will raise some pertinent questions. As climates and cultures are different, as well as existing building types and energy production, the same solutions do not solve problems universally. This guidebook is aimed for the owners and architects as well as engineers. It doesn’t require deep technical knowhow of HVAC-systems or real estate valuation.

Research on Building Urban Sustainability along the Coastal Area in China

OpenAIRE

Sun Jiaojiao; Fu Jiayan

2015-01-01

At present, in China, the research about the urban sustainability construction is still in the exploratory stage. The ecological problems of the coastal area are more sensitive and complicated. In the background of global warming with serious ecological damage, this paper deeply researches on the main characteristics of urban sustainability and measures how to build urban sustainability. Through combining regional environmental with economic ability along the coastal area...

Building Theory at the Intersection of Ecological Sustainability and Strategic Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borland, Helen; Ambrosini, Véronique; Lindgreen, Adam

2016-01-01

This article builds theory at the intersection of ecological sustainability and strategic management literature—specifically, in relation to dynamic capabilities literature. By combining industrial organization economics–based, resource-based, and dynamic capability–based views, it is possible...... to develop a better understanding of the strategies that businesses may follow, depending on their managers’ assumptions about ecological sustainability. To develop innovative strategies for ecological sustainability, the dynamic capabilities framework needs to be extended. In particular, the sensing...... sustainability. Finally, this approach offers opportunities for managers and academics to identify, categorize, and exploit business strategies for ecological sustainability....

In search of a holistic, sustainable and replicable model for complete energy refurbishment in historic buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marija S. Todorović

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in buildings offers one of the most promising opportunities for developed and developing countries to cooperate in achieving the realization of significant energy efficiency improvements. However, achieving sustainability is not an easy task unless there is synergy with/between energy efficiency improvement and renewable energy sources (RES - these are not at present in widespread dissemination and use. This paper recognizes the synergetic relationship between conservation and sustainability. At present, the role of heritage conservation in achieving sustainability has not yet been fully recognized, nor have heritage needs been well integrated into sustainability initiatives. Historic buildings are inherently sustainable. Preservation maximizes the use of existing materials and infrastructures, reduces waste, and preserves the historical character of older towns and cities. Sustainability begins with preservation. Taking into account the original climatic adaptations of historic buildings, today’s sustainable technology can supplement inherent sustainable features without compromising their unique historical character. Furthermore, a number of paper reviews and case studies with related methodologies outline the need to implement the latest current knowledge and technologies (BPS - Building Performance Simulation and CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics for use in the refurbishment design process, as well as highlighting the crucial importance of sustainability, relevant benchmarking and rating system development.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) and priority setting in using the multi-attribute approach for assessing sustainable intelligent buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

ALwaer, H. [The University of Dundee, School of Architecture, Matthew Building, 13 Perth Road, Dundee DD1 4HT (United Kingdom); Clements-Croome, D.J. [School of Construction Management and Engineering, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 219, Reading RG6 6AW (United Kingdom)

2010-04-15

The main objectives of this paper are to: firstly, identify key issues related to sustainable intelligent buildings (environmental, social, economic and technological factors); develop a conceptual model for the selection of the appropriate KPIs; secondly, test critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings; and thirdly develop a new model for measuring the level of sustainability for sustainable intelligent buildings. This paper uses a consensus-based model (Sustainable Built Environment Tool- SuBETool), which is analysed using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for multi-criteria decision-making. The use of the multi-attribute model for priority setting in the sustainability assessment of intelligent buildings is introduced. The paper commences by reviewing the literature on sustainable intelligent buildings research and presents a pilot-study investigating the problems of complexity and subjectivity. This study is based upon a survey perceptions held by selected stakeholders and the value they attribute to selected KPIs. It is argued that the benefit of the new proposed model (SuBETool) is a 'tool' for 'comparative' rather than an absolute measurement. It has the potential to provide useful lessons from current sustainability assessment methods for strategic future of sustainable intelligent buildings in order to improve a building's performance and to deliver objective outcomes. Findings of this survey enrich the field of intelligent buildings in two ways. Firstly, it gives a detailed insight into the selection of sustainable building indicators, as well as their degree of importance. Secondly, it tesst critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings. It is concluded that the priority levels for selected criteria is largely dependent on the integrated design team, which includes the client, architects, engineers and facilities managers

Sustainability of earth building materials - Environmental product declarations as an instrument of competition in building material industry

OpenAIRE

Schroeder, Horst; Lemke, Manfred

2015-01-01

[EN] The evaluation of the building process in terms of their environmental impact in all life cycle phases of a building leads to the key principle of sustainable building: the analysis of the life cycle of the materials used in a building. The goal of this analysis is to reduce waste and keep the environmental impact as low as possible by “closing” the cycle. During an inventory, the entire life cycle is assessed. This includes the sourcing and extracting of the raw material, the use of the...

Digital Handover of Data from Building Projects to Building Operation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Per Anker

2006-01-01

pro-jects to building operation. This project started in 2004 with research and analyses fol-lowed by development of a proposal for client requirements and in 2005 a first test on a real construction project has been carried out. After revision of the requirements a second test will be started early...... and construction and on the other side in building opera-tion and facilities management. In Denmark the government has launched a development program called Digital Construction and one of the projects concerns specifying require-ments for building clients in relation to digital handover of data from construction...... by a consortium called DACaPo consisting of a building client/facilities manager, a consulting company, a contractor and a university institute. This paper presents some of the results from the project with the main focus on the initial research....

Application of Sensitivity Analysis in Design of Sustainable Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heiselberg, Per; Brohus, Henrik; Hesselholt, Allan Tind

2007-01-01

satisfies the design requirements and objectives. In the design of sustainable Buildings it is beneficial to identify the most important design parameters in order to develop more efficiently alternative design solutions or reach optimized design solutions. A sensitivity analysis makes it possible...

Sustainable school infrastructure through effective innovative building technology selection

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mphahlele, C

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of a model proposed for the selection Innovative Building Technologies (IBTs) and procurement of services supporting the erection of the IBTs that will ensure the construction of a sustainable school...

The new district energy : building blocks for sustainable community development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The price of energy is expected to rise as world demand for fossil fuels increases and energy supplies become harder to access. Governments and businesses are interested in the role of energy in the design, development and operation of buildings and whole communities. In addition to contributing to community economic development, district energy (DE) systems can assist communities in meeting their goals for sustainable growth and in managing the changing nature of risk in the generation and delivery of energy. This handbook was developed in order to encourage information sharing and provide ideas on how to advance district energy development in communities across Canada. The handbook identified those who could use DE and listed the benefits provided by DE. These included community, environmental, and business benefits. The handbook also offered suggestions for overcoming common challenges experienced by communities initiating a DE system and provided a checklist to help accelerate the uptake of DE systems in a community. These challenges included working with the community; using integrated design; building knowledge, know-how and technical skills; and partnering to improve project financing and reducing development risk. 50 refs., 8 tabs., 11 figs

FOSTERING SUSTAINABILITY: DESIGNING A GREEN SCIENCE BUILDING AT A SMALL MAINE COLLEGE

Science.gov (United States)

The overarching goal of the project ‘as to develop a feasibility study of building design and construction that takes into account the various local conditions, optimizes energy savings. use of building materials, and long term sustainability of the structur...

Construction cost prediction model for conventional and sustainable college buildings in North America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Othman Subhi Alshamrani

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The literature lacks in initial cost prediction models for college buildings, especially comparing costs of sustainable and conventional buildings. A multi-regression model was developed for conceptual initial cost estimation of conventional and sustainable college buildings in North America. RS Means was used to estimate the national average of construction costs for 2014, which was subsequently utilized to develop the model. The model could predict the initial cost per square feet with two structure types made of steel and concrete. The other predictor variables were building area, number of floors and floor height. The model was developed in three major stages, such as preliminary diagnostics on data quality, model development and validation. The developed model was successfully tested and validated with real-time data.

The Impact of Brands on People, Markets and Society : Build Bridge Bond Method for Sustainable Brand Leadership

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoppen, Hendrik Sietze

2017-01-01

The Impact of Brands on People, Markets and Society Build Bridge Bond Method for Sustainable Brand Leadership Authorized translation of the chapter ‘Impact of brands on people, markets and society’ (prepublication Build Bridge Bond, method for sustainable leadership and building future-proof trust)

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

SUSTAINED LIVEABILITY: A FRAMEWORK BEYOND ENERGY CONSCIOUS BUILDING CONSERVATION OF MARKET HALLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neveen Hamza

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Market halls are commonly found in  contexts of cultural and heritage value. Positioned in urban centres and transport networks, these unique buildings were originally constructed in the 19th century to ensure better food distribution in growing European cities, then copied to other territories such as Egypt.  We argue that leaving market halls, with their large spanning structures and indoor open space, for dilapidation is a lost opportunity for sustaining community engagement, and educating the public on the original sustainability, neighbourhood regeneration and cultural thinking that underpinned these buildings. The proposed framework extends current sustainable ‘heritage conservation frameworks’ beyond concepts of adding renewable energy technologies, recycling and sustainable goods movement,  to ‘sustaining liveability and social inclusion’. We argue that market halls offer the opportunities to merge the daily activities of buying and selling food with creating local creative economies such as culinary art exhibitions, and culinary schools. The paper consists of two parts: the first discusses the historical urban context of market halls in Cairo; the second proposes a sustainable heritage conservation model for market halls.

Sustainability indicators - a tool for regional co-operation

OpenAIRE

Koitka, Heike

2002-01-01

Sustainability indicators are more than just numbers. Besides their main function of illustrating the complex vision of sustainability they could support some factors for success of regional co-operation through their development. Today the discussion on indicators and co-operation is mainly separated from each other. Sustainability indicators are developed on all spatial levels from neighbourhoods up to the United Nations. In some cases the indicators are developed but remain unused. Regiona...

Sustainability rating tools for buildings and its wider application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siew Renard

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a commentary on the latest research in measuring the sustainability of buildings and its wider application. The emergence of sustainability rating tools (SRTs has faced critique from scholars due to their deficiencies such as the overemphasis on environmental criteria, the negligence of uncertainty in scoring and existence of non-scientific criteria benchmarks among many others. This could have attributed to the mixed evidence in the literature on the benefits of SRTs. Future research direction is proposed to advance the state-of-the art in this field.

Environmental Comfort Indicators for School Buildings in Sustainability Assessment Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana Santos Saraiva

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Decades ago, the only requirement to construct a building was to give men the right conditions for the execution of their work or leisure activities. With the development of knowledge about the internal and external environments of buildings, other requirements have been added such as the issue of user comfort. New construction techniques have been incorporated and new products have been created to improve internal environment comfort. This research addressed the importance of using indicators related to environmental comfort in sustainability assessment tools applied to school buildings. It also considered the importance of environmental issues for the good performance of human beings, and the harmonious coexistence of the comfort indicators indoor air quality, thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort and ergonomic comfort based on data gathered in research carried out with users of high schools (only students. This research was carried out in two different cities of different countries, Guimarães (Portugal and Juiz de Fora (Brazil, that have similar characteristics of teaching standards and climate conditions (temperature and air humidity. In this study, interviews were made through questionnaires and, later, the information collected was analyzed. This study demonstrates the need to include an ergonomic indicator for school buildings in sustainability assessment tools.

CapaSIDS : Capacity Building and Knowledge on Sustainable ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

CapaSIDS : Capacity Building and Knowledge on Sustainable Responses to Climate Change in Small Island States. Tourism is the main economic sector in ... Gouvernance axée sur la collaboration : gestion des risques associés aux inondations et à l'élévation du niveau de la mer au Cap. La ville du Cap doit relever un ...

Transition to Sustainable Buildings: Strategies and Opportunities to 2050

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-06-01

Buildings are the largest energy consuming sector in the world, and account for over one-third of total final energy consumption and an equally important source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Achieving significant energy and emissions reduction in the buildings sector is a challenging but achievable policy goal. Transition to Sustainable Buildings presents detailed scenarios and strategies to 2050, and demonstrates how to reach deep energy and emissions reduction through a combination of best available technologies and intelligent public policy. This IEA study is an indispensible guide for decision makers, providing informative insights on: cost-effective options, key technologies and opportunities in the buildings sector; solutions for reducing electricity demand growth and flattening peak demand; effective energy efficiency policies and lessons learned from different countries; future trends and priorities for ASEAN, Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States; implementing a systems approach using innovative products in a cost effective manner; and pursuing whole-building (e.g. zero energy buildings) and advanced-component policies to initiate a fundamental shift in the way energy is consumed.

Sustainable building design in practice – survey among Danish DGNB consultants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunsgaard, Camilla; Bejder, Anne Kirkegaard

2017-01-01

and support the iterative design process in the initial design phases. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to investigate the design process on a more common level experienced by Danish DGNB consultants when designing sustainable buildings using the Danish DGNB certification scheme and thereby possibly......Sustainability certification schemes experience growing popularity. Denmark got its own sustainability certification scheme based on the German DGNB certification scheme. Previous work based on four case studies – DGNB certified healthcare centres, suggests further research on how to improve...

The relevance of operational skills towards business sustainability: A focus on SMME manufacturers in the Vaal triangle region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Naidoo

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Activities in the manufacturing sector are often considered the bedrock of an economy and a key driver of growth and development. Within the South African manufacturing sector, operations skills are reported to be deficient and are often cited as a main cause of failure in small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs. This study explores and tests this fragile relationship between operations skills and SMME sustainability. Empirical investigations are conducted in a high-density SMME manufacturing environment - the Vaal Triangle Region. Design/Methodology/Approach: Building on previously established literature on SMME sustainability and operations skills, various measures are developed and tested for reliability and validity. Factor analysis is used to identify relevant factors in terms of operations skills. Co-relational analysis is then employed to test the hypothesised relationship. The study is cross-sectional in design and relies on trained fieldworkers administering surveys for data collection. Findings: Five clear factors for operations skills are identified through factor analysis with an overall high reliability value. Based on descriptive and co-relational analysis results reveal that operations skills are positively associated with sustainability. Implications: SMME owners, educators and service providers may benefit from the study's findings in terms of the nature and associations that operational skills have on developing sustainable SMME's. Originality/Value: The study focused on a neglected area of SMMEs - the importance of operations towards business sustainability, and made an important contribution towards theory development through empirical explorations. In South Africa, this is the first time an instrument measuring operations skills has been validated and associated with SMMEs in a manufacturing context.

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...

A sustainable building promotes pro-environmental behavior: an observational study on food disposal.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, David W-L; DiGiacomo, Alessandra; Kingstone, Alan

2013-01-01

In order to develop a more sustainable society, the wider public will need to increase engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. Psychological research on pro-environmental behaviors has thus far focused on identifying individual factors that promote such behavior, designing interventions based on these factors, and evaluating these interventions. Contextual factors that may also influence behavior at an aggregate level have been largely ignored. In the current study, we test a novel hypothesis--whether simply being in a sustainable building can elicit environmentally sustainable behavior. We find support for our hypothesis: people are significantly more likely to correctly choose the proper disposal bin (garbage, compost, recycling) in a building designed with sustainability in mind compared to a building that was not. Questionnaires reveal that these results are not due to self-selection biases. Our study provides empirical support that one's surroundings can have a profound and positive impact on behavior. It also suggests the opportunity for a new line of research that bridges psychology, design, and policy-making in an attempt to understand how the human environment can be designed and used as a subtle yet powerful tool to encourage and achieve aggregate pro-environmental behavior.

Integrated co-operative governance in the context of sustainable development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Nealer

2011-07-01

Keywords:Sustainable development, governance, co-operative governance, integrated,organising, and communication. Disciplines:Public Administration, Public Management, Social Welfare, Environmental Management, Municipal public service delivery, Social Development, Organisational Behaviour, Co-operative Governance, Communication, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Organisational Development

Approaches for Sustaining and Building Management and Leadership Capability in VET Providers

Science.gov (United States)

Callan, Victor; Mitchell, John; Clayton, Berwyn; Smith, Larry

2007-01-01

This study examines the existing and potential strategies for sustaining and building greater levels of management and leadership capability in training organisations. The research report is one of the products of a nationally based research consortium: Supporting vocational education and training (VET) providers in building capability for the…

Improving sustainability during hospital design and operation a multidisciplinary evaluation tool

CERN Document Server

Bottero, Marta; Buffoli, Maddalena; Lettieri, Emanuele

2015-01-01

This book describes the Sustainable High Quality Healthcare (SustHealth) project, which had the goal of developing an original multidisciplinary evaluation tool that can be applied to assess and improve hospitals’ overall sustainability. The comprehensive nature of the appraisal offered by this tool exceeds the scope of most current rating systems, which typically permit a thorough evaluation of relevant environmental factors when designing a new building but fail to consider social and economic impacts of the design phase or the performance of the hospital’s operational structure in these fields. The multidisciplinary evaluation system was developed, from its very inception through to its testing, by following a scientific experimental method in which a global perspective was constantly maintained, as opposed to a focus only on specific technical issues. Application of the SustHealth rating tool to a currently functioning hospital, or one under design, will identify weaknesses and guide users to potentia...

Green Building Adoption Index 2017

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kok, Nils

2017-01-01

In the early 2000s, energy efficiency was for the committed few, and “green” building was a niche concept. But with the advent of strong tenant and investor interest in constructing, operating, and occupying better buildings, the concept of energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings has taken

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.

A practical model for sustainable operational performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vlek, C.A.J.; Steg, E.M.; Feenstra, D.; Gerbens-Leenis, W.; Lindenberg, S.; Moll, H.; Schoot Uiterkamp, A.; Sijtsma, F.; Van Witteloostuijn, A.

2002-01-01

By means of a concrete model for sustainable operational performance enterprises can report uniformly on the sustainability of their contributions to the economy, welfare and the environment. The development and design of a three-dimensional monitoring system is presented and discussed [nl

A matrix in life cycle perspective for selecting sustainable materials for buildings in Sri Lanka

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abeysundara, U.G. Yasantha [Ministry of Education, Isurupaya, Battaramulla (Sri Lanka); Babel, Sandhya [Environmental Technology Program, School of Biochemical Engineering and Technology, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, P.O. Box 22, Pathumthani 12121 (Thailand); Gheewala, Shabbir [The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut' s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140 (Thailand)

2009-05-15

This paper presents a matrix to select sustainable materials for buildings in Sri Lanka, taking into consideration environmental, economic and social assessments of materials in a life cycle perspective. Five building elements, viz., foundations, roofs, ceilings, doors and windows, and floors are analyzed based on materials used for these elements. Environmental burdens associated with these elements are analyzed in terms of embodied energy and environmental impacts such as global warming, acidification and nutrient enrichment. Economic analysis is based on market prices and affordability of materials. Social factors that are taken into account are thermal comfort, interior (aesthetics), ability to construct quickly, strength and durability. By compiling the results of analyses, two building types with minimum and maximum impacts are identified. These two cases along with existing buildings are compared in a matrix of environmental, economic and social scores. Analysis of the results also indicates need for higher consideration of environmental parameters in decision-making over social and economic factors, as social and economic scores do not vary much between cases. Hence, this matrix helps decision-makers to select sustainable materials for buildings, meaningfully, and thus helps to move towards a more sustainable buildings and construction sector. (author)

Concept for Sustainable Dose Reduction in Operating BWRs and PWRs with FSD (Full System decontamination)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sempere Belda, L.; Stiepani, C.; Topf, C.

2011-07-01

Nuclear power plants experience an increase in dose rates during operation due to the build-up of the activity inventory. The activity build-up is influenced by the construction materials, past and present water chemistries, and the individual operating history of the plant. Depending on these factors the dose levels in an operating plant may reach a point in which concrete actions to reduce the overall radiation exposure become necessary. AREVA has developed the Concept for Sustainable Dose Reduction in Operating BWRs and PWRs. This is a program of joint corrective measures to minimize dose levels and keep them low for continued operation. It can be applied in plants from all constructors and designs. The concept is put into practice through the coordinated application of proven technologies, including: . Full System Decontamination to minimize the activity inventory . The formation of new, very stable protective oxides on the system surfaces including injection of depleted zinc . Introduction of advanced water chemistry for maintaining the low dose levels achieved during ongoing operation The implementation of this program is particularly interesting for plants with a long operation history, especially when considering life extension. A description of the activities involved is provided, including an approximate timeline for the implementation from the initial planning stages until completion.

Concept for Sustainable Dose Reduction in Operating BWRs and PWRs with FSD (Full System decontamination)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sempere Belda, L.; Stiepani, C.; Topf, C.

2011-01-01

Nuclear power plants experience an increase in dose rates during operation due to the build-up of the activity inventory. The activity build-up is influenced by the construction materials, past and present water chemistries, and the individual operating history of the plant. Depending on these factors the dose levels in an operating plant may reach a point in which concrete actions to reduce the overall radiation exposure become necessary. AREVA has developed the Concept for Sustainable Dose Reduction in Operating BWRs and PWRs. This is a program of joint corrective measures to minimize dose levels and keep them low for continued operation. It can be applied in plants from all constructors and designs. The concept is put into practice through the coordinated application of proven technologies, including: . Full System Decontamination to minimize the activity inventory . The formation of new, very stable protective oxides on the system surfaces including injection of depleted zinc . Introduction of advanced water chemistry for maintaining the low dose levels achieved during ongoing operation The implementation of this program is particularly interesting for plants with a long operation history, especially when considering life extension. A description of the activities involved is provided, including an approximate timeline for the implementation from the initial planning stages until completion.

Towards sustainability in offshore oil and gas operations

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, M. Ibrahim

Human activities are causing irreversible damage to the natural world and threaten our ability to sustain future generations. According to Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005, sixty percent of world pristine habitats are destroyed or disturbed and species extinction rate is 100-1000 times higher than the normal background rate. One of the main reasons of these problems is the use of unsustainable technology. In this dissertation, the essential features of the modern technology development are discussed and a new single-parameter screening criterion is proposed. This criterion will allow the development of truly sustainable technologies. Previously developed technologies, particularly the ones developed after the industrial revolution, are evaluated based on the new criterion. The root cause for unsustainability of these technologies especially in the energy sector is discussed. The proposed criterion is applied to the petroleum sector. Petroleum hydrocarbons are considered to be the lifeblood of the modern society. Petroleum industry that took off from the golden era of 1930's never ceased to dominate all aspects of our society. Until now, there is no suitable alternative to fossil fuel and all trends indicate continued dominance of the petroleum industry in the foreseeable future. Even though petroleum operations have been based on solid scientific excellence and engineering marvels; only recently it has been discovered that many of the practices are not environmentally sustainable. Practically all activities of hydrocarbon operations are accompanied by undesirable discharges of liquid, solid, and gaseous wastes, which have enormous impacts on the environment. Consequently, reducing environmental impact is the most pressing issue today and many environmentalist groups are calling for curtailing petroleum operations altogether. There is clearly a need to develop a new management approach in hydrocarbon operations. This approach will have to be environmentally

The potential role of cattail-reinforced clay plaster in sustainable building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Georgiev

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development is a key goal in town and country planning, as well as in the building industry. The main aims are to avoid inefficient land use, to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and, thus, to move towards meeting the challenges of climate change. In this article we consider how the use of a traditional low-energy building material, namely clay, might contribute. Recent research has identified a promising connection between the reinforcement of clay for internal wall plastering with fibres from the wetland plant Typha latifolia (cattail and the positive environmental effects of cultivating this species. If large quantities of Typha fibres were to be used in building, the need for cultivation of the plant would increase and create new possibilities for the renaturalisation of polluted or/and degraded peatlands. We explore the topic first on the basis of literature, considering the suitability of Typha for this application and possibilities for its sustainable cultivation, as well as implications for the life cycle analyses of buildings in which it is used. We then report (qualitatively the results of testing different combinations of clay with natural plant (straw and cattail fibres for their suitability as a universal plaster, which demonstrate clearly the superior properties of Typha fibres as a reinforcement material for clay plaster mortars.

Sustainability management for operating organizations of research reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kibrit, Eduardo; Aquino, Afonso Rodrigues de, E-mail: ekibrit@ipen.br, E-mail: araquino@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNE-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2017-07-01

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In a country like Brazil, where nuclear activity is geared towards peaceful purposes, any operating organization of research reactor should emphasize its commitment to social, environmental, economic and institutional aspects. Social aspects include research and development, production and supply of radiopharmaceuticals, radiation safety and special training for the nuclear sector. Environmental aspects include control of the surroundings and knowledge directed towards environment preservation. Economic aspects include import substitution and diversification of production. Institutional aspects include technology, innovation and knowledge. These aspects, if considered in the management system of an operating organization of research reactor, will help with its long-term maintenance and success in an increasingly competitive market scenario. About this, we propose a sustainability management system approach for operating organizations of research reactors. A bibliographical review on the theme is made. A methodology for identifying indicators for measuring sustainability in nuclear research reactors processes is also described. Finally, we propose a methodology for sustainability perception assessment to be applied at operating organizations of research reactors. (author)

Sustainability management for operating organizations of research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kibrit, Eduardo; Aquino, Afonso Rodrigues de

2017-01-01

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In a country like Brazil, where nuclear activity is geared towards peaceful purposes, any operating organization of research reactor should emphasize its commitment to social, environmental, economic and institutional aspects. Social aspects include research and development, production and supply of radiopharmaceuticals, radiation safety and special training for the nuclear sector. Environmental aspects include control of the surroundings and knowledge directed towards environment preservation. Economic aspects include import substitution and diversification of production. Institutional aspects include technology, innovation and knowledge. These aspects, if considered in the management system of an operating organization of research reactor, will help with its long-term maintenance and success in an increasingly competitive market scenario. About this, we propose a sustainability management system approach for operating organizations of research reactors. A bibliographical review on the theme is made. A methodology for identifying indicators for measuring sustainability in nuclear research reactors processes is also described. Finally, we propose a methodology for sustainability perception assessment to be applied at operating organizations of research reactors. (author)

Sustainable Tourism: its Interpretation and Operational Scope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcela Bertoni

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The application of sustainability principles in tourism is an essential reference for the processes of development and promotion of potential destinations and for the restructuring  of current ones. However, there is a dichotomy between the wide spread of the concept of sustainable tourism and the limitations of the reached progress. This paper intends to encourage a theoretical discussion to examine the definitions of sustainable tourism from diverse approaches, viewpoints and scopes, and to analyze the relevant aspects of its operability, related to the integration of massive and sustainable tourism and to the implications of sustainable development, politics and social participation.

Augmented reality building operations tool

Science.gov (United States)

Brackney, Larry J.

2014-09-09

A method (700) for providing an augmented reality operations tool to a mobile client (642) positioned in a building (604). The method (700) includes, with a server (660), receiving (720) from the client (642) an augmented reality request for building system equipment (612) managed by an energy management system (EMS) (620). The method (700) includes transmitting (740) a data request for the equipment (612) to the EMS (620) and receiving (750) building management data (634) for the equipment (612). The method (700) includes generating (760) an overlay (656) with an object created based on the building management data (634), which may be sensor data, diagnostic procedures, or the like. The overlay (656) is configured for concurrent display on a display screen (652) of the client (642) with a real-time image of the building equipment (612). The method (700) includes transmitting (770) the overlay (656) to the client (642).

Solar chimney: A sustainable approach for ventilation and building space conditioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lal, S.,

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The residential and commercial buildings demand increase with rapidly growing population. It leads to the vertical growth of the buildings and needs proper ventilation and day-lighting. The natural air ventilation system is not significantly works in conventional structure, so fans and air conditioners are mandatory to meet the proper ventilation and space conditioning. Globally building sector consumed largest energy and utmost consumed in heating, ventilation and space conditioning. This load can be reduced by application of solar chimney and integrated approaches in buildings for heating, ventilation and space conditioning. It is a sustainable approach for these applications in buildings. The authors are reviewed the concept, various method of evaluation, modelings and performance of solar chimney variables, applications and integrated approaches.

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.

BUILDING NEW BUSINESS MODELS FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taco C. R. van Someren

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Considered are issues of methodology and methods, as well as ideology of strategic innovation. Using the tools of this approach is offered as mechanisms to develop and build business models for sustainable socio-economic economic growth and development of different regions. The connection between key problems of sustainable development and management policy of different economic entities is studied. The consultancy company Ynnovate’s experience in addressing these issues in the EU and China is shown. It is offered to the use its experience and tools in exploring the areas of cross-border economic cooperation between territories of the Russian Far East and China

Use of Education as Social Indicator in the Assessment of Sustainability throughout the Life Cycle of a Building

Science.gov (United States)

Ruano, Marco A.; Cruzado, Marcos Garcia

2012-01-01

The authors seek to establish the need for better education to develop procedures useful to evaluate the sustainability of a building. The analysis emphasises the need for education in the social dimension of sustainability assessment in the context of the life cycle of a building and how such education of building agents could increase…

Social-ecology networks : building connections for sustainable landscapes

OpenAIRE

Opdam, P.F.M.

2014-01-01

Humans adapt their landscapes, their living environment. Sustainable use of the various landscape benefits requires that land owners and users collaborate in managing ecological networks. Because the government is stepping back as the organizer of coordinated landscape adaptation, we need new landscape planning approaches that enhance collaboration by building social networks and link them to ecological networks. In this farewell address I will explain why the social-ecological network is a p...

Sustainable Skyscrapers: Designing the Net Zero Energy Building of the Future

Science.gov (United States)

Kothari, S.; Bartsch, A.

2016-12-01

Cities of the future will need to increase population density in order to keep up with the rising populations in the limited available land area. In order to provide sufficient power as the population grows, cities must become more energy efficient. Fossil fuels and grid energy will continue to become more expensive as nonrenewable resources deplete. The obvious solution to increase population density while decreasing the reliance on fossil fuels is to build taller skyscrapers that are energy neutral, i.e. self-sustaining. However, current skyscrapers are not energy efficient, and therefore cannot provide a sustainable solution to the problem of increasing population density in the face of depleting energy resources. The design of a net zero energy building that includes both residential and commercial space is presented. Alternative energy systems such as wind turbines, photovoltaic cells, and a waste-to-fuel conversion plant have been incorporated into the design of a 50 story skyscraper that is not reliant on fossil fuels and has a payback time of about six years. Although the current building was designed to be located in San Francisco, simple modifications to the design would allow this building to fit the needs of any city around the world.

Capacity building for sustainable aquaculture and fisheries development in Myanmar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steins, N.A.; Bosma, R.H.; Taal, K.; Bolman, B.C.; Bink, E.; Dop, van H.; Dekker, A.; Numan, J.; Spek, van der G.; Pijl, van der W.

2015-01-01

This report presents the results of a Dutch public-private capacity building (Knowledge to Knowledge or K2K) mission for fostering sustainable aquaculture and fisheries development in Myanmar. The objectives of the K2K mission were to: 1) analyse Myanmar’s aquaculture and fisheries knowledge

Web Content Analysis On Sustainable Campus Operation (SCO Initiatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razman Ruzaimah

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the current practices implemented in global universities for achieving sustainability throughout campus operations. This study adopted a web content analysis method where 30 international green universities’ websites have been thoroughly examined to identify common initiatives implemented to achieve sustainability through campus operations. The findings are ranked based on the implementation of these initiatives by participating universities. From the websites reviewed, as much as 31 initiatives have been identified as common initiatives frequently implemented by green universities to achieve sustainability in campus operations. It was found that the common initiatives frequently implemented by most of the universities include ‘Provide bin with clearly marked signs to increase the number of recycling items’, and ‘Generate electricity on campus by establishing power generation plants’ with 87% and 83% respectively. This paper fills the gap by presenting the investigation of sustainability initiatives from some of the major green universities internationally. It is suggested that higher education institutions, particularly Malaysian universities, initiate or manage their implementation of sustainable campus operation (SCO initiatives based on the findings of this research.

Knowledge transfer from building operation to construction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Per Anker; Chatzilazarou, Stamatia

2017-01-01

Purpose: To investigate how knowledge that derives from operation and maintenance of buildings can be stored and transferred in order to be reused in a future building project? Design/methodology/approach: The paper is theoretically based on knowledge management with a particular focus...... on interdepartmental knowledge transfer between departments responsible for operation and management and departments responsible for building projects in organisations with large and fast changing building portfolios. The paper includes a case study of the FM organisation of the Technical University of Denmark...... with data collection mainly by interviews with managers and staff in the relevant departments in this organisation. Findings: The case organisation seems to be aware of the importance of sharing and transferring their organisational knowledge. Over the last five years, the organisation has developed...

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...

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.

The Evolution of the Sustainability Assessment Tool SBToolPT: From Buildings to the Built Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guilherme Castanheira

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the current trends in sustainability assessment. After about 15 years from the launch of sustainability assessment tools, focused on buildings evaluation, the paradigm of sustainability assessment tools is changing from the building scale to the built environment scale. Currently European cities and cities around the world are concerned with sustainable development, as well as its evolution. Cities seek a way to adapt to contemporary changes, in order to meet the required needs and ensure population’s well-being. Considering this, the new generations of sustainability assessment tools are being developed to be used to guide and help cities and urban areas to become more sustainable. Following the trend of the most important sustainability assessment tools, the sustainability assessment tool SBToolPT is also developing its version for assessing the sustainability of the built environment, namely, the urban planning projects and the urban regeneration projects, to be developed in Portugal, the SBToolPT-UP. The application of the methodology to three case studies will demonstrate its feasibility; at the same time this will identify the best practices which will serve as reference for new projects, thereby assisting the development of the tool.

The Evolution of the Sustainability Assessment Tool SBToolPT: From Buildings to the Built Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Bragança, Luís

2014-01-01

This paper analyses the current trends in sustainability assessment. After about 15 years from the launch of sustainability assessment tools, focused on buildings evaluation, the paradigm of sustainability assessment tools is changing from the building scale to the built environment scale. Currently European cities and cities around the world are concerned with sustainable development, as well as its evolution. Cities seek a way to adapt to contemporary changes, in order to meet the required needs and ensure population's well-being. Considering this, the new generations of sustainability assessment tools are being developed to be used to guide and help cities and urban areas to become more sustainable. Following the trend of the most important sustainability assessment tools, the sustainability assessment tool SBToolPT is also developing its version for assessing the sustainability of the built environment, namely, the urban planning projects and the urban regeneration projects, to be developed in Portugal, the SBToolPT-UP. The application of the methodology to three case studies will demonstrate its feasibility; at the same time this will identify the best practices which will serve as reference for new projects, thereby assisting the development of the tool. PMID:24592171

BPS, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources for buildings greening and zero energy cities planning harmony and ethics of sustainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Todorovic, Marija S. [University of Belgrade, Serbia and Southeast University (China)

2011-07-01

Traditional village houses now use renewable materials and energy sources and this paper presents the intrinsic harmony of these buildings' greening and their sustainability. The paper covers building technical systems, sustainable energy supply, and the importance of renewable raw materials (RMS) for sustainable development. This study investigated the role of building dynamic behavior and optimized energy efficiency in reducing thermal loads significantly. A preliminary design for sustainable energy efficient settlements with net zero energy buildings is proposed and a comprehensive multidisciplinary engineering study was done which identified the technical feasibility of sustainable village energy and water supplies using solar or wind technologies. Overall, through analysis of sustainability definitions and possible ways to achieve sustainability, the study demonstrated that this can only be brought about by interdisciplinary interaction and finding the right balance between materiality and spirituality, science and art, and between technological development and concern for cultural and other human values.

Taking a Holistic Approach to Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Girouard, Miles

2011-01-01

The benefits of sustainability go way beyond improving the environment. School districts that choose to build facilities using sustainable principles reap the benefits of environmentally friendly, healthy establishments; attractive work spaces (which improve recruiting and retention); and significant operational cost savings. Districts realize…

Building capacity for energy and electricity planning for sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-09-01

The IAEA, through its Planning and Economic Studies Section (PESS), assists Member States to build their capacities to perform analyses for developing alternative strategies for sustainable energy development, evaluate the energy-economic-environmental implications and assess the potential contribution of nuclear energy in securing affordable and clean supplies of energy

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.

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 ...

Optimal Decision Model for Sustainable Hospital Building Renovation—A Case Study of a Vacant School Building Converting into a Community Public Hospital

Science.gov (United States)

Juan, Yi-Kai; Cheng, Yu-Ching; Perng, Yeng-Horng; Castro-Lacouture, Daniel

2016-01-01

Much attention has been paid to hospitals environments since modern pandemics have emerged. The building sector is considered to be the largest world energy consumer, so many global organizations are attempting to create a sustainable environment in building construction by reducing energy consumption. Therefore, maintaining high standards of hygiene while reducing energy consumption has become a major task for hospitals. This study develops a decision model based on genetic algorithms and A* graph search algorithms to evaluate existing hospital environmental conditions and to recommend an optimal scheme of sustainable renovation strategies, considering trade-offs among minimal renovation cost, maximum quality improvement, and low environmental impact. Reusing vacant buildings is a global and sustainable trend. In Taiwan, for example, more and more school space will be unoccupied due to a rapidly declining birth rate. Integrating medical care with local community elder-care efforts becomes important because of the aging population. This research introduces a model that converts a simulated vacant school building into a community public hospital renovation project in order to validate the solutions made by hospital managers and suggested by the system. The result reveals that the system performs well and its solutions are more successful than the actions undertaken by decision-makers. This system can improve traditional hospital building condition assessment while making it more effective and efficient. PMID:27347986

Optimal Decision Model for Sustainable Hospital Building Renovation-A Case Study of a Vacant School Building Converting into a Community Public Hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Juan, Yi-Kai; Cheng, Yu-Ching; Perng, Yeng-Horng; Castro-Lacouture, Daniel

2016-06-24

Much attention has been paid to hospitals environments since modern pandemics have emerged. The building sector is considered to be the largest world energy consumer, so many global organizations are attempting to create a sustainable environment in building construction by reducing energy consumption. Therefore, maintaining high standards of hygiene while reducing energy consumption has become a major task for hospitals. This study develops a decision model based on genetic algorithms and A* graph search algorithms to evaluate existing hospital environmental conditions and to recommend an optimal scheme of sustainable renovation strategies, considering trade-offs among minimal renovation cost, maximum quality improvement, and low environmental impact. Reusing vacant buildings is a global and sustainable trend. In Taiwan, for example, more and more school space will be unoccupied due to a rapidly declining birth rate. Integrating medical care with local community elder-care efforts becomes important because of the aging population. This research introduces a model that converts a simulated vacant school building into a community public hospital renovation project in order to validate the solutions made by hospital managers and suggested by the system. The result reveals that the system performs well and its solutions are more successful than the actions undertaken by decision-makers. This system can improve traditional hospital building condition assessment while making it more effective and efficient.

BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MONTENEGRO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bosiljka Vuković

2010-01-01

Full Text Available There are many proofs confirming the importance of sustainable development for Montenegro. Shared international challenges, global economic crisis, and, particularly, the country's natural characteristics emphasize that sustainable development is the only way ahead. In 2002 Montenegro formed the National Council for Sustainable Development; in 2005 the Office for Sustainable Development was established, and the National Strategy of Sustainable Development was adopted in 2007. With these developments, Montenegro created the most advanced institutional basis for sustainable development in its region. After carefully observing the functioning of national sustainable development institutions, however, the Office for Sustainable Development embarked upon the process of their reform in 2008. As a result, the Council was fundamentally reformed, having its membership downsized and composition transformed. Two Annual Reports on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy have been completed and the process of defining sustainable development indicators commenced in co-operation with the United Nations. This paper critically examines the evolution of the set-up of the Montenegrin sustainable development system, presents the advantages and disadvantages of the government-anchored Council. Based on the lessons learnt, it presents recommendations for policy makers on promoting and enforcing sustainable development. The paper argues that only by effectively co-ordinating all segments of society and ensuring genuine participation of outside-government stakeholders, the countries can ensure that sustainable development principles are incorporated in national and local policies. The independence and pro-activeness in approach of sustainable development institutions is essential in ensuring the supremacy of sustainable practices in decision-making. Considering the similarities in historic, economic and social developments of the former socialist

47 CFR 27.1330 - Local public safety build-out and operation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... public safety build-out and operation. (a) The Upper 700 MHz D Block licensee and the Operating Company... exclusive right to build and operate the Shared Wireless Broadband Network. (b) Rights to early build-out in... transfer and compensation to occur prior to the scheduled build out date for such network in the NSA. (ii...

47 CFR 90.1430 - Local public safety build-out and operation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... public safety build-out and operation. (a) The Upper 700 MHz D Block licensee and the Operating Company... exclusive right to build and operate the Shared Wireless Broadband Network. (b) Rights to early build-out in... transfer and compensation to occur prior to the scheduled build out date for such network in the NSA. (ii...

Building a pipeline of talent for operating radio observatories

Science.gov (United States)

Wingate, Lory M.

2016-07-01

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory's (NRAO) National and International Non-Traditional Exchange (NINE) Program teaches concepts of project management and systems engineering in a focused, nine-week, continuous effort that includes a hands-on build project with the objective of constructing and verifying the performance of a student-level basic radio instrument. The combination of using a project management (PM)/systems engineering (SE) methodical approach based on internationally recognized standards in completing this build is to demonstrate clearly to the learner the positive net effects of following methodical approaches to achieving optimal results. It also exposes the learner to basic radio science theory. An additional simple research project is used to impress upon the learner both the methodical approach, and to provide a basic understanding of the functional area of interest to the learner. This program is designed to teach sustainable skills throughout the full spectrum of activities associated with constructing, operating and maintaining radio astronomy observatories. NINE Program learners thereby return to their host sites and implement the program in their own location as a NINE Hub. This requires forming a committed relationship (through a formal Letter of Agreement), establishing a site location, and developing a program that takes into consideration the needs of the community they represent. The anticipated outcome of this program is worldwide partnerships with fast growing radio astronomy communities designed to facilitate the exchange of staff and the mentoring of under-represented1 groups of learners, thereby developing a strong pipeline of global talent to construct, operate and maintain radio astronomy observatories.

International Conference on Human Resource Development for Nuclear Power Programmes: Building and Sustaining Capacity. Presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

The objectives of the conference are to: • Review developments in the global status of HRD since the 2010 international conference; • Emphasize the role of human resources and capacity building programmes at the national and organizational level for achieving safe, secure and sustainable nuclear power programmes; • Discuss the importance of building competence in nuclear safety and security; • Provide a forum for information exchange on national, as well as international, policies and practices; • Share key elements and best practices related to the experience of Member States that are introducing, operating or expanding nuclear power programmes; • Highlight the practices and issues regarding HRD at the organizational and national level; • Highlight education and training programmes and practices; • Emphasize the role of nuclear knowledge management for knowledge transfer and HRD; and • Elaborate on the role and scope of various knowledge networks

Procurement of Architectural and Engineering Services for Sustainable Buildings: A Guide for Federal Project Managers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2004-06-01

This guide was prepared to be a resource for federal construction project managers and others who want to integrate the principles of sustainable design into the procurement of professional building design and consulting services. To economize on energy costs and improve the safety, comfort, and health of building occupants, building design teams can incorporate daylighting, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and passive solar design into all projects in which these elements are technically and economically feasible. The information presented here will help project leaders begin the process and manage the inclusion of sustainable design in the procurement process. The section on establishing selection criteria contains key elements to consider before selecting an architectural and engineering (A/E) firm. The section on preparing the statement of work discusses the broad spectrum of sustainable design services that an A/E firm can provide. Several helpful checklists are included.

Building and Sustaining Digital Collections: Models for Libraries and Museums.

Science.gov (United States)

Council on Library and Information Resources, Washington, DC.

In February 2001, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) and the National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH) convened a meeting to discuss how museums and libraries are building digital collections and what business models are available to sustain them. A group of museum and library senior executives met with…

A hybrid decision support system for sustainable office building renovation and energy performance improvement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Juan, Yi-Kai [Department of Architecture, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) (China); Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness, Stanford University (United States); Gao, Peng [Department of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Tongji University (China); Wang, Jie [Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness, Stanford University (United States)

2010-03-15

Energy consumption of buildings accounts for around 20-40% of all energy consumed in advanced countries. Over the last decade, more and more global organizations are investing significant resources to create sustainably built environments, emphasizing sustainable building renovation processes to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. This study develops an integrated decision support system to assess existing office building conditions and to recommend an optimal set of sustainable renovation actions, considering trade-offs between renovation cost, improved building quality, and environmental impacts. A hybrid approach that combines A* graph search algorithm with genetic algorithms (GA) is used to analyze all possible renovation actions and their trade-offs to develop the optimal solution. A two-stage system validation is performed to demonstrate the practical application of the hybrid approach: zero-one goal programming (ZOGP) and genetic algorithms are adopted to validate the effectiveness of the algorithm. A real-world renovation project is introduced to validate differences in energy performance projected for the renovation solution suggested by the system. The results reveal that the proposed hybrid system is more computationally effective than either ZOGP or GA alone. The system's suggested renovation actions would provide substantial energy performance improvements to the real project if implemented. (author)

Sustainable renovation of residential buildings and the landlord/tenant dilemma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ástmarsson, Björn; Jensen, Per Anker; Maslesa, Esmir

2013-01-01

The landlord/tenant dilemma arises when the interests of landlords and tenants misalign and is one of the greatest barriers hindering the development of sustainable renovation of residential buildings in Europe. The aim of this research is to investigate how regulatory changes and contractual solutions can help solve the landlord/tenant dilemma in relation to sustainable renovation of residential buildings, and how the general awareness of sustainable renovation can be increased. Particular focus is on whether tools like energy performance contracting and energy labeling can help solve the landlord/tenant dilemma. The research was done in relation to the specific situation in Denmark, but theory, information and experiences from other countries were included. The results show that there are plenty of opportunities to overcome the landlord/tenant dilemma, but principal/agent problems can only be overcome with a package solution. In the Danish national context the package solution must consist of legislative changes, financial incentives and better dissemination of information. Therefore, an array of different tools must be integrated and used in cooperation to overcome the dilemma. - Highlights: • There are plenty of opportunities to overcome the landlord/tenant dilemma. • The principal/agent problems can only be overcome with a package solution. • An array of different tools must be integrated and used in cooperation. • Legislative changes, financial incentives and better dissemination of information

Building performance simulation for sustainable buildings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hensen, J.L.M.

2010-01-01

This paper aims to provide a general view of the background and current state of building performance simulation, which has the potential to deliver, directly or indirectly, substantial benefits to building stakeholders and to the environment. However the building simulation community faces many

Tour operators, environment and sustainable development; Tour operator, ambiente e sviluppo sostenibile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andriola, L.; Chirico, R.; Declich, P. [ENEA, Divisione Caratterizzazione dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Rome (Italy)

2001-07-01

The purpose of this work is to characterize the role of the tour operators in achieving sustainable development meaning a process of development which leaves at least the same amount of capital, natural and man-made, to future generations as current generations have access to. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global industries, creating significant employment and economic development, particularly in many developing countries. Tourism can also have negative environmental and social impact resulting from resource consumption, pollution, generation of wastes and from the compromise of local culture while introducing new activities. Most tour operators has started to recognised that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few tour operators have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimize their negative environmental and social impacts. A group of tour operators from different parts of the world have joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this initiatives, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to address the environmental, social, and cultural aspects of sustainable development within the tourism sector. [Italian] Lo scopo del presente lavoro e' individuare il ruolo dei Tour Operator nel perseguire uno sviluppo sostenibile ossia un processo di sviluppo che lasci alle generazioni future lo stesso capitale, naturale e creato dall'uomo, di cui dispone l'attuale generazione. Il turismo e' tra le industrie globali piu' vaste ed in rapida crescita che crea una occupazione ed uno sviluppo economico significativo, particolarmente in molti paesi in via di sviluppo. Il turismo puo' anche generare impatti sia ambientali che sociali derivanti dallo sfruttamento delle risorse, dall'inquinamento, dalla produzione di rifiuti e dalla compromissione delle culture locali introducendo

Tour operators, environment and sustainable development; Tour operator, ambiente e sviluppo sostenibile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andriola, L; Chirico, R; Declich, P [ENEA, Divisione Caratterizzazione dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Rome (Italy)

2001-07-01

The purpose of this work is to characterize the role of the tour operators in achieving sustainable development meaning a process of development which leaves at least the same amount of capital, natural and man-made, to future generations as current generations have access to. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global industries, creating significant employment and economic development, particularly in many developing countries. Tourism can also have negative environmental and social impact resulting from resource consumption, pollution, generation of wastes and from the compromise of local culture while introducing new activities. Most tour operators has started to recognised that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few tour operators have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimize their negative environmental and social impacts. A group of tour operators from different parts of the world have joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this initiatives, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to address the environmental, social, and cultural aspects of sustainable development within the tourism sector. [Italian] Lo scopo del presente lavoro e' individuare il ruolo dei Tour Operator nel perseguire uno sviluppo sostenibile ossia un processo di sviluppo che lasci alle generazioni future lo stesso capitale, naturale e creato dall'uomo, di cui dispone l'attuale generazione. Il turismo e' tra le industrie globali piu' vaste ed in rapida crescita che crea una occupazione ed uno sviluppo economico significativo, particolarmente in molti paesi in via di sviluppo. Il turismo puo' anche generare impatti sia ambientali che sociali derivanti dallo sfruttamento delle risorse, dall'inquinamento, dalla produzione di rifiuti e dalla compromissione delle culture locali introducendo nuove attivita'. La maggiore parte dei

Sustainable operations in nuclear research reactors. A bibliographical study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kibrit, Eduardo; Rodrigues de Aquino, Afonso; Marotti de Mello, Adriana; Tromboni de Souza Nascimento, Paulo

2017-01-01

Sustainability is gaining prominence in the area of operations management. By means of a bibliographical research, we identified in literature sustainable operations carried out by operating organizations of nuclear research reactors. The methodology applied consisted in gathering material, descriptive analysis, selection of analytical categories and evaluation of the material collected. The collection of material was performed by a search made on academic and nuclear databases, with keywords structured for the subject of the research. The collected material was analysed and analytical categories on the theme sustainable operations were established. The evaluation of the collected material resulted in references accepted for the study, classified according to the pre-established analytical categories. The results were significant. From then on, a theoretical review on the topic under study was structured, based on pre-defined analytical categories. Thus, we were able to identify gaps in the literature and propose new studies on the subject.

Sustainable operations in nuclear research reactors. A bibliographical study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kibrit, Eduardo; Rodrigues de Aquino, Afonso [Cidade Univ., Sao Paolo (Brazil). Inst. de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares; Marotti de Mello, Adriana [Sao Paolo Univ. (Brazil). Faculdade de Economia; Tromboni de Souza Nascimento, Paulo [Sao Paolo Univ. (Brazil). Faculdade de Economia Administracao e Contabilidade

2017-10-15

Sustainability is gaining prominence in the area of operations management. By means of a bibliographical research, we identified in literature sustainable operations carried out by operating organizations of nuclear research reactors. The methodology applied consisted in gathering material, descriptive analysis, selection of analytical categories and evaluation of the material collected. The collection of material was performed by a search made on academic and nuclear databases, with keywords structured for the subject of the research. The collected material was analysed and analytical categories on the theme sustainable operations were established. The evaluation of the collected material resulted in references accepted for the study, classified according to the pre-established analytical categories. The results were significant. From then on, a theoretical review on the topic under study was structured, based on pre-defined analytical categories. Thus, we were able to identify gaps in the literature and propose new studies on the subject.

Building Evidence for Sustainability of Food and Nutrition Intervention Programs in Developing Countries12

OpenAIRE

Kim, Sunny S.; Rogers, Beatrice L.; Coates, Jennifer; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Sarriot, Eric

2013-01-01

After making large investments to put in place effective health and nutrition interventions, researchers, program implementers, policy makers, and donors all expect lasting effects. However, it is uncertain whether this is the case, and there is less certainty on how to approach the study of program sustainability. This symposium, “Building Evidence for Sustainability of Food and Nutrition Intervention Programs in Developing Countries,” provided not only frameworks for conceptualizing sustain...

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.

Research and development portfolio of the sustainability science team national sustainable operations USDA Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Trista Patterson; David Nicholls; Jonathan Long

2015-01-01

The Sustainability Science Team (SST) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Sustainable Operations Initiative is a 18-member virtual research and development team, located across five regions and four research stations of the USDA Forest Service. The team provides research, publication, systems analysis, and decision support to the Sustainable...

Sustainability innovation foundry - FY13: Merging research and operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mizner, Jack Harry [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Passell, Howard David [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Keller, Elizabeth James Kistin [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Gordon, Margaret Ellen [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); McNeish, Jerry A. [Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA (United States); Sullivan, Kristina [Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA (United States)

2013-12-01

Sustainability is a critical national security issue for the U.S. and other nations. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is already a global leader in sustainability science and technology (SS&T) as documented in this report. This report documents the ongoing work conducted this year as part of the Sustainability Innovation Foundry (SIF). The efforts of the SIF support Sandia's national and international security missions related to sustainability and resilience revolving around energy use, water use, and materials, both on site at Sandia and externally. The SIF leverages existing Sandia research and development (R&D) in sustainability science and technology to support new solutions to complex problems. The SIF also builds on existing Sandia initiatives to support transformation of Sandia into a fully sustainable entity in terms of materials, energy, and water use. In the long term, the SIF will demonstrate the efficacy of sustainability technology developed at Sandia through prototyping and test bed approaches and will provide a common platform for support of solutions to the complex problems surrounding sustainability. Highlights from this year include the Sustainability Idea Challenge, improvements in facilities energy use, lectures and presentations from relevant experts in sustainability [Dr. Barry Hughes, University of Denver], and significant development of the Institutional Transformation (IX) modeling tools to support evaluation of proposed modifications to the SNL infrastructure to realize energy savings.

Conceptual framework for opening sustainability in pratices of printing industry operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalton Alexandre Kai (

2014-12-01

Full Text Available There is worldwide concern with global development and this has compelled organizations to modify their management and operations in order to remain competitive, even for their own survival. Develop sustainably means to be economically viable, change each operation to reduce or even not generate waste, conserve energy and natural resources, be safe and not harmful to workers, communities and consumers. Companies that make up the Brazilian printing sector still lack this understanding. The overall goal of this research is to propose a conceptual framework based on the Triple Bottom Line (3BL for sustainability practices in printing industry operations. A literature review process checked the particularities of this industry’s operations, with different perspectives on economic, environmental and social operations. The model presented is expected to be applied, becoming a starting point to enable printing industry companies to adapt their modes of operation, adopting best sustainable practices in sustainable development.

Modeling of HVAC operational faults in building performance simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Rongpeng; Hong, Tianzhen

2017-01-01

Highlights: •Discuss significance of capturing operational faults in existing buildings. •Develop a novel feature in EnergyPlus to model operational faults of HVAC systems. •Compare three approaches to faults modeling using EnergyPlus. •A case study demonstrates the use of the fault-modeling feature. •Future developments of new faults are discussed. -- Abstract: Operational faults are common in the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems of existing buildings, leading to a decrease in energy efficiency and occupant comfort. Various fault detection and diagnostic methods have been developed to identify and analyze HVAC operational faults at the component or subsystem level. However, current methods lack a holistic approach to predicting the overall impacts of faults at the building level—an approach that adequately addresses the coupling between various operational components, the synchronized effect between simultaneous faults, and the dynamic nature of fault severity. This study introduces the novel development of a fault-modeling feature in EnergyPlus which fills in the knowledge gap left by previous studies. This paper presents the design and implementation of the new feature in EnergyPlus and discusses in detail the fault-modeling challenges faced. The new fault-modeling feature enables EnergyPlus to quantify the impacts of faults on building energy use and occupant comfort, thus supporting the decision making of timely fault corrections. Including actual building operational faults in energy models also improves the accuracy of the baseline model, which is critical in the measurement and verification of retrofit or commissioning projects. As an example, EnergyPlus version 8.6 was used to investigate the impacts of a number of typical operational faults in an office building across several U.S. climate zones. The results demonstrate that the faults have significant impacts on building energy performance as well as on occupant

Building Sustainable Capacity with University Partnerships

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, J. M.

2013-05-01

Universities can play an important role in building scientific and technical capacity by providing educational opportunities for local and regional populations in developing countries. These opportunities may be short term or long term through for example faculty exchanges, student exchanges, and collaborative teaching and research activities. As the demand for talented graduates expands in developing countries, local universities face competition for students, lecturers, and professors from the same industries and communities they serve. This competition is in many ways counterproductive to building the sustainable human resource that is needed to support local development, management, and governance. Such competition is particularly evident for top science and engineering students in energy rich countries. University partnerships, e.g., in particular those between universities in OECD countries and universities in developing countries, have an important role to play in bridging the gap between today's lack of capacity and a sustainable human resource for the future. Such university partnerships, however, face many challenges, some of which can be traced to organizational and cultural differences In this presentation, I will discuss how university partnerships are formed, some of the benefits to partners, and some pitfalls to avoid during implementation of university partnerships. The examples are taken from Stanford partnerships that involve geoscience and engineering, and will include representative goals and content of the example partnerships. These partnerships I'll describe are actually trilateral, with partners from two or more universities and a private company or government agency. I conclude the presentation with a brief discussion on multiculturalism, perhaps the most important consideration when planning a partnership between diverse organizations. Organizers of partnerships must recognize the fact that multiculturalism and diversity are assets that

Method for simulating predictive control of building systems operation in the early stages of building design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Steffen; Svendsen, Svend

2011-01-01

A method for simulating predictive control of building systems operation in the early stages of building design is presented. The method uses building simulation based on weather forecasts to predict whether there is a future heating or cooling requirement. This information enables the thermal...... control systems of the building to respond proactively to keep the operational temperature within the thermal comfort range with the minimum use of energy. The method is implemented in an existing building simulation tool designed to inform decisions in the early stages of building design through...... parametric analysis. This enables building designers to predict the performance of the method and include it as a part of the solution space. The method furthermore facilitates the task of configuring appropriate building systems control schemes in the tool, and it eliminates time consuming manual...

Sustainable Building Assessment of Colonial Shophouses after Adaptive Reuse in Kuala Lumpur

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karam M. Al-Obaidi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Kuala Lumpur, as a major capital city, has undergone a drastic transformation in the past ten years. Many heritage buildings have been sacrificed for urban renewal projects. Those located in the touristic heritage zones within Kuala Lumpur were being converted by their owners into hotels and cafés to meet current demands to sustain their incomes. This approach, however, creates several physical and environmental issues within the new adaptation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the building performance of heritage shophouses that were adapted into budget hotels. The research focuses on two case studies in a strategic and historical location of Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur. At the initial stage, interviews and physical surveys were done to determine the context of this study. The authors of this research then used a triangulation method through indoor environmental condition assessment, measurements of indoor environmental conditions and occupant survey to determine the indoor building performance after the adaption. Results showed that adaptive reuse heritage buildings can perform and meet new indoor environmental requirements, but many sensitive design judgments need to be made before the adaptive reuse renovation. The research found that the use of natural light, natural ventilation, recycled materials and water efficiency have been neglected and thus, they should be prioritized and preserved to ensure a successful change of use. Conserving existing heritage buildings, while incorporating new usages with acceptable comfort, is in line with the principle of sustainability.

Towards Sustainability: Effective Operations Strategies, Quality Management and Operational Excellence in Banking

OpenAIRE

Vesna Tornjanski; Sanja Marinković; Željka Jančić

2017-01-01

This paper sets out to extend and deepen the understanding the ways toward economic sustainability through efficient and effective growth operations strategies, quality management and operational excellence in banking. In this study we define new quality management practices based on developed conceptual architecture of digital platform for operations function in banking. Additionally, we employ decision making framework consisted of two parts: introduction of new operations services using To...

Strategic collective system building to commercialize sustainability innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Planko, J.; Cramer, J.M.; Chappin, M.M.H.; Hekkert, M.P.

2016-01-01

The implementation of innovative sustainability technologies often requires far-reaching changes of the macro environment in which the innovating firms operate. Strategic management literature demonstrates that the chances of a successful diffusion and adoption of an innovative technology in society

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.

An Early Look at Building a Social Learning for Sustainability Community of Practice: RCE Grand Rapids' Flagship Project

Science.gov (United States)

Glasser, Harold

2010-01-01

Grand Rapids is the first United Nations University (UNU) Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) on education for sustainable development (ESD) in the United States. It builds on the region's long history and deep foundation in research, planning and problem solving to build a sustainable future. This article explores the concept of RCEs as social…

Residential and commercial buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Svendsen, Svend; Furbo, S.

2012-11-15

Low-energy buildings can make a major contribution to general sustainable development by providing a solution to problems related to the use of fossil fuels. The EPBD (EU Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings) requirements that by 2020 new building shall be constructed to use nearly zero energy, and no fossil fuels, can be accomplished by combining low-energy buildings with renewable energy via low-temperature district heating in cities and suburbs, and via heat pumps for low-density settlements. Based on experience with passive houses, low-energy buildings meeting the energy performance requirements of 2020 are expected to cost only a few percent more than conventional buildings. The very large and rapid changes needed in the energy performance of buildings is a challenge for the building sector, but one that can be overcome by better methods of developing products and designing, constructing and operating buildings. Simulation-based analysis and optimisation, and considerations of durability, will be important here. Building may thus be transformed from an experience-based sector to one based on knowledge and research, with high-quality sustainable products and good business opportunities. (Author)

Building Castles Together: A sustainable collaboration as a perpetual work-in-progress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Vazquez Jacobus

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The Building Castles Together project is a multidisciplinary collaboration between the University of Southern Maine at Lewiston-Auburn College and Sandcastle Clinical and Educational Services that aims to build solidarity and resilience in vulnerable young children, their families and their community. This article explores how the partnership exemplifies five key areas impacting the sustainability of community-university collaborations. 1 Mutuality and reciprocity are foundational elements in establishing trust and ensuring project relevance to both organisations. 2 Interdisciplinarity and diversity are constructs related to the core mission of both the University and Sandcastle. The multiple perspectives offer a range of holistic strategies for addressing complex social problems, but also create the potential for misunderstandings between disciplines and organisations. 3 Community integration at multiple levels is critical to the partnership’s sustainability as well as to achievement of its ideals. 4 Dynamic interaction is an evolutionary process, both internal and external to both organisations, that impacts their relative contributions and necessitates flexibility in planning and outcomes. 5 Asset enhancement describes the potential to increase capacity, but also the concern for overextension and resource exhaustion. We conclude that sustainability in university-community partnerships is not a goal in itself, but an ongoing process, and an attribute of a partnership based on common principles, continuous input and constant change. Keywords Community-university partnership, sustainability, diversity, vulnerable youth

Project materials [Commercial High Performance Buildings Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2001-01-01

The Consortium for High Performance Buildings (ChiPB) is an outgrowth of DOE'S Commercial Whole Buildings Roadmapping initiatives. It is a team-driven public/private partnership that seeks to enable and demonstrate the benefit of buildings that are designed, built and operated to be energy efficient, environmentally sustainable, superior quality, and cost effective.

Natural ventilation systems to enhance sustainability in buildings: a review towards zero energy buildings in schools

Science.gov (United States)

Gil-Baez, Maite; Barrios-Padura, Ángela; Molina-Huelva, Marta; Chacartegui, Ricardo

2017-11-01

European regulations set the condition of Zero Energy Buildings for new buildings since 2020, with an intermediate milestone in 2018 for public buildings, in order to control greenhouse gases emissions control and climate change mitigation. Given that main fraction of energy consumption in buildings operation is due to HVAC systems, advances in its design and operation conditions are required. One key element for energy demand control is passive design of buildings. On this purpose, different recent studies and publications analyse natural ventilation systems potential to provide indoor air quality and comfort conditions minimizing electric power consumption. In these passive systems are of special relevance their capacities as passive cooling systems as well as air renovation systems, especially in high-density occupied spaces. With adequate designs, in warm/mild climates natural ventilation systems can be used along the whole year, maintaining indoor air quality and comfort conditions with small support of other heating/cooling systems. In this paper is analysed the state of the art of natural ventilation systems applied to high density occupied spaces with special focus on school buildings. The paper shows the potential and applicability of these systems for energy savings and discusses main criteria for their adequate integration in school building designs.

Enhancement of building operations: A successful approach towards national electrical demand management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Mulla, A.; Maheshwari, G.P.; Al-Nakib, D.; ElSherbini, A.; Alghimlas, F.; Al-Taqi, H.; Al-Hadban, Y.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Enhanced building operations were applied for eight large government buildings in Kuwait. • The enhanced building operations led to demand savings of 8.90 MW during the national peak hour. • Nationwide guidelines were developed for implementing the enhanced operations in similar government buildings in Kuwait. • The peak electrical demand reduction is likely to be 488 MW by the year 2030. - Abstract: An approach for managing electrical demand through enhanced building operations in hot climates is evaluated and demonstrated in this paper. The approach focuses on implementing enhanced operations in government buildings, since they are easier to implement and administer. These enhanced operations included early reduction of cooling supply before the end of the occupancy period, improved time-of-day control after occupancy period and reduced lighting. A total of eight government buildings with different construction and system characteristics were selected for implementing these enhanced operations. These buildings have a total air-conditioning area of 4.39 × 10 5 m 2 and a combined peak electrical demand of 29.3 MW. The enhanced operations resulted in demand savings of 8.90 MW during the national peak hour. Temperatures build up inside the buildings were monitored and found to be within acceptable ranges. Guidelines for nationwide implementation in similar buildings were developed based on the results of this work. Implementation is estimated to reduce demand by 488 MW by the year 2030, which amounts to capital savings of $585 million. These projected values would be important to adopt energy efficient policies for the country. Additional reductions in energy and fuel consumption are added benefits, which would result in large financial and environmental savings to the country. Moreover, the enhanced building operations would be an important tool to avoid any blackouts by properly reducing the peak electrical demand as well as operating the

The New Jersey Nursing Initiative: building sustainable collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakewell-Sachs, Susan; Mertz, Lynn M; Egreczky, Dana; Ladden, Maryjoan

2011-01-01

The New Jersey Nursing Initiative was publically launched in 2009 as a 5-year, $22 million program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation. It was reauthorized in 2011 through 2016 for an additional $8.5 million. The initiative includes a faculty preparation program and strategic tracks of work focusing on building education capacity, increasing current faculty capacity, making nurse faculty a preferred career, leading policy initiatives, creating sustainable funding in support of nursing education, and ultimately, building local, regional, and statewide collaborative networks. The tagline, "So a Nurse will be there for You," emphasizes both the reality of an aging nursing workforce needing replacement and the expected health care transformation that will result in the need for new knowledge and skills in the future nursing workforce. The purpose of this article was to describe the New Jersey Nursing Initiative, emphasizing the partnerships that have resulted from the project to date. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Urban (re-Development with Building Integrated Energy, Water and Waste Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae-Goo Lee

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The construction and service of urban infrastructure systems and buildings involves immense resource consumption. Cities are responsible for the largest component of global energy, water, and food consumption as well as related sewage and organic waste production. Due to ongoing global urbanization, in which the largest sector of the global population lives in cities which are already built, global level strategies need to be developed that facilitate both the sustainable construction of new cities and the re-development of existing urban environments. A very promising approach in this regard is the decentralization and building integration of environmentally sound infrastructure systems for integrated resource management. This paper discusses such new and innovative building services engineering systems, which could contribute to increased energy efficiency, resource productivity, and urban resilience. Applied research and development projects in Germany, which are based on integrated system approaches for the integrated and environmentally sound management of energy, water and organic waste, are used as examples. The findings are especially promising and can be used to stimulate further research and development, including economical aspects which are crucial for sustainable urban (re-development.

Nation-wide development of sustainable production patterns. The case of 16 years of sustainability in Dutch residential house building

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bossink, B.A.G.

2009-01-01

This paper integrates the interorganisational innovation process and national innovation system-approach into a new model. A case study research project that covers a 16-year period of sustainable innovations in the Dutch residential building industry applies the model. The research outcomes

Investeren in build-operate-transfer projecten

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beek, van Th.A.; Vrancken, B.P.E.

1998-01-01

De Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) methode is een aanbestedingsmethode waarbij een consortium van bouwbedrijven een concessie-overeenkomst sluit met de overheid ten behoeve van een te realiseren infrastructuurvoorziening, waar geen overheidsbetaling tegenover staat. De concessiehouder is

Fiscal Year 2015 Site Sustainability Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Witt, Monica Rene [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-03-16

Los Alamos National Laboratory is taking action to operate as a living laboratory for sustainable solutions in buildings, climate, energy, purchasing, transportation, waste, and water. LANL prepared the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Site Sustainability Plan (SSP) to describe progress towards the goals established in the SSPP. In addition, per the requirements of DOE Order 436.1, Departmental Sustainability, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) uses its International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2004 certified Environmental Management System (EMS) to establish objectives to improve compliance, reduce environmental impacts, increase operational capacity, and meet long-term sustainability goals. The goals of the 2015 SSP are fully integrated into LANL’s institutional environmental objectives under the EMS and its Long-Term Strategy for Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability (LTSESS).

Architectural qualities of Danish office buildings built between 1960 and 1980, seen in a contemporary sustainable perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hannoudi, L.; Lauring, M.; Christensen, Jørgen Erik

2016-01-01

This study is about evaluating the past and present architectural quality of office buildings built between1960 and 1980 in Denmark. The evaluation will focus on the expression of these buildings in relation to their context, combined with the present sustainable performance of the buildings...

L'impegno dell'industria delle costruzioni per promuovere la sostenibilità dei prodotti: un approccio comune europeo per le prestazioni ambientali di prodotto. The building sector commitment to promote the sustainability of construction products: a common European approach for the Environmental Product Performances

OpenAIRE

Caterina, Gargari; Chris, Hamans; Maria Chiara, Torricelli

2013-01-01

The industry of construction products plays an important role in Europe in promoting the sustainability of the built environment in a life cycle perspective. Within the framework of the European initiatives for a sustainable competitiveness, manufacturers are interested in promoting a life cycle approach along the building chain. However both, institutions and building operators, in general still have to go a long way on designing and applying a sustainable and competitive industrial policy....

Energy management handbook for building operating engineers student workbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1979-09-01

The handbook provides operating engineers with the basic information needed to implement specific energy conservation opportunities, and additional information is presented relative to the formulation and development of the energy management plan. Chapters are entitled: The Need for Energy Management (International Factors, The US Energy Situation, Energy and the Building Owner); The Fundamentals of Energy Consumption in Buildings (Energy Basics, Heat Basics, Heat Flow and the Building Envelope, Air and Comfort, Factors Affecting Energy Use In Buildings); Principles of Energy Conservation (Building Energy Consumption Characteristics); Planning the Energy Management Program (Obtaining Commitment and Support, Establishing the Energy Use Index, Organizing to Develop the Plan, Developing and Implementing the Plan); Conducting a Survey of Facilities and Operations (The Energy Audit, Preparation of Building and Systems Profile, Measurement and Instrumentation); Guidelines for Energy Conservation (Operator ECO's, Owner ECO'S); Developing the Draft Final Plan (Analyze Survey Findings, Putting the Plan on Paper, Review and Submit); Implementing the Program (Developing the Final Plan, Implementing the Plan, Monitoring and Updating the Program). A glossary is included and specific information on degree days and cooling hours for some selected cities and a computer energy study data for the New York Hilton are included in appendices. (MCW)

Australia's TERN: Building, Sustaining and Advancing Collaborative Long Term Ecosystem Research Networks

Science.gov (United States)

HEld, A. A.; Phinn, S. R.

2012-12-01

TERN is Australia's Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (www.tern.org.au) is one of several environmental data collection, storage and sharing projects developed through the government's research infrastructure programs 2008-2014. This includes terrestrial and coastal ecosystem data collection infrastructure across multiple disciplines, hardware, software and processes used to store, analyse and integrate data sets. TERN's overall objective is to build the collaborations, infrastructure and programs to meet the needs of ecosystem science communities in Australia in the long term, through institutional frameworks necessary to establish a national terrestrial ecosystem site and observational network, coordinated networks enabling cooperation and operational experience; public access to quality assured and appropriately licensed data; and allowing the terrestrial ecosystem research community to define and sustain the terrestrial observing paradigm into the longer term. This paper explains how TERN was originally established, and now operates, along with plans to sustain itself in the future. TERN is implemented through discipline/technical groups referred to as "TERN Facilities". Combined, the facilities provide observations of surface mass and energy fluxes over key ecosystems, biophysical remote sensing data, ecological survey plots, soils information, and coastal ecosystems and associated water quality variables across Australia. Additional integrative facilities cover elements of ecoinformatics, data-scaling and modelling, and linking science to management. A central coordination and portal facility provides meta-data storage, data identification, legal and licensing support. Data access, uploading, meta-data generation, DOI attachment and licensing is completed at each facility's own portal level. TERN also acts as the open-data repository of choice for Australian scientists required to publish their data. Several key lessons we have learnt, will be presented

Operation and maintenance of the technical installations in buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, O.(red.)

The report contains twelve papers from a seminar on operation and maintenance, held at the Danish Building Research Institute in October 1976. The papers deal, among other things, with dimensioning and balancing of pipesystems, design of ventilating systems for adequate operation and maintenance,......, cost and quality in maintenance, maintenance service companies, as well as organization and training for building services maintenance....

Sustainability and office building conversions : A comparison of Dutch and Australian practices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Remøy, H.T.; Wilkinson, S.J.

2011-01-01

Local Authorities worldwide are encouraging adaptation to reduce building related energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The City of Melbourne is promoting the retrofit of 1,200 CBD properties before 2020 with sustainability measures as part of their policy to become a carbon neutral city,

Building a Mechanism for the Function of an Innovation-Oriented Machine-Building Enterprise in Operating the Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boiarynova Кateryna О.

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at developing and substantiating a mechanism for the function of an innovation-oriented machine-building enterprise in operating the development in order to increase effectuality in the space of ecosystem of operation and to satisfy the economic interests of development. The article proposes a mechanism for the function of an innovation-oriented machine-building enterprise in operating the development, its structure and building based on a business model; operating the development through responsibility centers; functional transformation of economic interest of actors in the ecosystem of function into the economic interest of enterprise; use of economic-institutional regulators and management technologies. Implementation of the mechanism would ensure the value of enterprise, the ability to manage development with the prolonged satisfaction of the joint economic interest, the ability to operate the economic interest of actors in the ecosystem, and maintenance the development mode in the operating process. Prospect for further research will be development of technologies for implementation of the proposed mechanism in the machine-building enterprises.

Greening Operations Management: An Online Sustainable Procurement Course for Practitioners

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Helen L.; Gough, Stephen; Bakker, Elmer F.; Knight, Louise A.; McBain, Darian

2009-01-01

In the Operations Management field, sustainable procurement has emerged as a way to green the purchasing and supply process. This paper explores issues in sustainable procurement training. The authors formed an interdisciplinary team to design, deliver and evaluate a training programme to promote and develop sustainable procurement in the United…

Communicating Sustainability: An Operational Model for Evaluating Corporate Websites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfonso Siano

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The interest in corporate sustainability has increased rapidly in recent years and has encouraged organizations to adopt appropriate digital communication strategies, in which the corporate website plays a key role. Despite this growing attention in both the academic and business communities, models for the analysis and evaluation of online sustainability communication have not been developed to date. This paper aims to develop an operational model to identify and assess the requirements of sustainability communication in corporate websites. It has been developed from a literature review on corporate sustainability and digital communication and the analysis of the websites of the organizations included in the “Global CSR RepTrak 2015” by the Reputation Institute. The model identifies the core dimensions of online sustainability communication (orientation, structure, ergonomics, content—OSEC, sub-dimensions, such as stakeholder engagement and governance tools, communication principles, and measurable items (e.g., presence of the materiality matrix, interactive graphs. A pilot study on the websites of the energy and utilities companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index 2015 confirms the applicability of the OSEC framework. Thus, the model can provide managers and digital communication consultants with an operational tool that is useful for developing an industry ranking and assessing the best practices. The model can also help practitioners to identify corrective actions in the critical areas of digital sustainability communication and avoid greenwashing.

Sustainability assessment, rating systems and historical buildings Case study: Rehabilitated construction in a university site

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadrykia Somayeh

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the relationship between the indicators and different factors that “rating systems for green projects” concentrates on, and principles and factors considered in the rehabilitation of historical buildings. In recent years, different methods and systems concerned and improved for assessing environmental sustainability. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and BREEAM (Building Research Establishment (BRE Environmental Assessment Method are two most commonly used rating systems, established in U.S and UK. These systems comprise some categories and different factors to achieve environmentally responsible design. Firstly, this study focuses on the list of rating systems indicators and criteria. Secondly this paper investigates a historical rehabilitated building in the site of Tabriz Art University, as a case study and has tried to compile its green design elements. Finally, this work intends to compare mentioned elements with indicators and factors of building rating systems. Findings of the study revealed that “Materials and Resources”, “indoor environmental quality” and also “Sustainable Sites” ,the most significant indicator of rating systems, had major and important role in the rehabilitation of the building. Beyond this materials’ life cycle was considerable in construction.

Intelligent building operating technologies : a cost-effective reduction in building energy consumption[Business case for a climate change solution]. 2. ed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilles, J.

2004-04-01

Much of the energy consumed in the commercial and institutional (C and I) buildings sector is wasted due to poor building operation. The sector accounts for 13 per cent of secondary energy use in Canada, and contributes about the same proportion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Energy use in this sector could be reduced if the operation of the buildings were improved. The CANMET Energy Technology Centre in Varennes, Quebec has developed a set of software solutions called Intelligent Building Operating Technologies to address this problem. The software program applies artificial intelligence algorithms to existing building energy management control systems to diagnose equipment and system problems. The software provides performance reports and allows the operator to optimize the operation of the building. The proposed control strategies could be applied to 60 per cent of the building surface area in Canada, resulting energy consumption reductions of 12 per cent annually, or 14 TWh of electricity and 1.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas. The savings amount to $1.8 billion and 7 Mt of GHG emissions annually. It was suggested that a national retro-commissioning program would eliminate the barriers to improving building operation and help research and development aimed at Intelligent Building Operating Technologies. 8 refs., 5 tabs., 3 figs.

Urban ecology and sustainable building in a Danish era of public de-regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Ole; Gram-Hanssen, Kirsten

, to which extent the changes should be seen as a result of respectively the right-wing government, or international trends in environmental management and public regulation – as characterised by the concepts of “Ecological Modernisation” and “New Public Management”. The recent development in the sector......The article describes the changed conditions for sustainable building in Denmark in the last decade and describes the different actors and there relations during this period. It also discusses to what extent the new right-wing government, which came to power in 2001, initiated these changes...... extent been based on public subsidies, and on grass-root activities. The new government however, has changed many of the previously state-supported conditions for sustainable building, and have escalated and narrowed a policy based on the principles of New Public Management. The discussions will include...

Building Sustainable Leadership Capacity. The Soul of Educational Leadership Series. Volume 5

Science.gov (United States)

Blankstein, Alan M.; Houston, Paul D.; Cole, Robert W.

2009-01-01

Today's rapidly changing schools and educational trends present administrators and school leaders with unique challenges. This fifth volume in the "Soul of Educational Leadership" series offers inspiring articles that examine how to sustain the achievements of school communities while building shared leadership to carry on the work of school…

Sustainability in facilities management: an overview of current research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Sarasoja, Anna-Liisa; Ramskov Galamba, Kirsten

2016-01-01

of environmental, social and economical impacts? How to improve the sustainability performance of buildings? What are the potentials for and barriers to integrating sustainability into FM on strategic, tactical and operational levels? Originality/value: The paper presents the most comprehensive literature study...

Building evidence for sustainability of food and nutrition intervention programs in developing countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sunny S; Rogers, Beatrice L; Coates, Jennifer; Gilligan, Daniel O; Sarriot, Eric

2013-09-01

After making large investments to put in place effective health and nutrition interventions, researchers, program implementers, policy makers, and donors all expect lasting effects. However, it is uncertain whether this is the case, and there is less certainty on how to approach the study of program sustainability. This symposium, "Building Evidence for Sustainability of Food and Nutrition Intervention Programs in Developing Countries," provided not only frameworks for conceptualizing sustainability but concrete evidence about the approaches and methods used as well as lessons on how they do or do not work in particular contexts. We presented the following findings: 1) sustainability of activities and impacts of Title II food aid programs in Bolivia and Kenya, 2) sustainability of impact in terms of adoption and consumption of a biofortified orange sweet potato in Uganda, and 3) lessons from incorporating pro-sustainability investment strategies in child survival programs in Guinea. Our symposium introduced a new important body of research on program sustainability to provide insights and stimulate innovative thinking in the design and planning of further applied research and future prosustainability intervention programs.

A net-zero building application and its role in exergy-aware local energy strategies for sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kılkış, Şiir

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Net-zero exergy targets are put forth for more energy-sufficient buildings and districts. ► A premier building that is the first LEED Platinum building in Turkey exemplifies this target. ► The building integrates low-exergy measures with PV/BIPV, CHP, GSHP, solar collectors and TES. ► Two districts in the south heating network of Stockholm are compared with this technology bundle. ► Net-zero exergy targets are related to a re-structuring of an exergy-aware energy value chain. - Abstract: Based on two case studies, this paper explores the nexus of exergy, net-zero targets, and sustainable cities as a means of analyzing the role of exergy-aware strategies at the building and district level. The first case study is a premier building in Ankara that is ready to meet the net-zero exergy target. It is also the first building in Turkey to receive the highest Platinum rating in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. A net-zero exergy building (NZEXB) is a building that has an annual sum of net-zero exergy transfer across the building-district boundary. This new target is made possible by lowered annual exergy consumption, (AEXC), and increased on-site production from a bundle of sustainable energy technologies. The modeled results of the building indicate that the reduced AEXC of 60 kW h/m 2 yr is met with on-site production of 62 kW h/m 2 yr. On-site production includes PV and building integrated PV, a micro-wind turbine, combined heat and power, GSHP, and solar collectors. Diversified thermal energy storage tanks further facilitate the exergy supply to meet with the exergy demand. The results of this case study provide key lessons to structure an energy value chain that is more aware of exergy, which are up-scalable to the district level when the bundle of sustainable energy technologies is zoomed out across a larger spatial area. These key lessons are then compared with the second case study of two districts in the south heating network

Wetland harvesting systems -- developing alternatives for sustainable operation

Science.gov (United States)

Robert B. Rummer; Bryce J. Stokes; Alvin Schilling

1997-01-01

Wetland forests represent some of the most productive forest lands in the Southeast. They are also an environmentally sensitive ecotype which presents unique problems for forest operations. Sustaining active management in these areas will require systems which can operate on weak soil conditions without adversely affecting soil properties or stand regeneration. The...

Estimating building energy consumption using extreme learning machine method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naji, Sareh; Keivani, Afram; Shamshirband, Shahaboddin; Alengaram, U. Johnson; Jumaat, Mohd Zamin; Mansor, Zulkefli; Lee, Malrey

2016-01-01

The current energy requirements of buildings comprise a large percentage of the total energy consumed around the world. The demand of energy, as well as the construction materials used in buildings, are becoming increasingly problematic for the earth's sustainable future, and thus have led to alarming concern. The energy efficiency of buildings can be improved, and in order to do so, their operational energy usage should be estimated early in the design phase, so that buildings are as sustainable as possible. An early energy estimate can greatly help architects and engineers create sustainable structures. This study proposes a novel method to estimate building energy consumption based on the ELM (Extreme Learning Machine) method. This method is applied to building material thicknesses and their thermal insulation capability (K-value). For this purpose up to 180 simulations are carried out for different material thicknesses and insulation properties, using the EnergyPlus software application. The estimation and prediction obtained by the ELM model are compared with GP (genetic programming) and ANNs (artificial neural network) models for accuracy. The simulation results indicate that an improvement in predictive accuracy is achievable with the ELM approach in comparison with GP and ANN. - Highlights: • Buildings consume huge amounts of energy for operation. • Envelope materials and insulation influence building energy consumption. • Extreme learning machine is used to estimate energy usage of a sample building. • The key effective factors in this study are insulation thickness and K-value.

Optimal and Sustainable Plant Refurbishment in Historical Buildings: A Study of an Ancient Monastery Converted into a Showroom in Florence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carla Balocco

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to study the possibility and sustainability of retrofit and refurbishment design solutions on historical buildings converted to different uses and often clashing with their original purpose and architectural features. The building studied is an ancient monastery located in the historical center of Florence (Italy. Today the original cloister is covered over by a single glazed pitched roof and used as a fashion showroom. Our proposed solution concerns a reversible and sustainable plant design integrated with an active transparent building casing. The existing glazed pitched roof was reconsidered and re-designed as part of the existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC plant system, based on the functioning of an active thermal buffer to control the high heat flow rates and external thermal loads due to solar radiation. Hourly whole building energy analysis was carried out to check the effectiveness and energy sustainability of our proposed solution. Results obtained showed, from the historical-architectural, energy and environmental points of view, its sustainability due to the building-plant system integration and interaction with its location, the external climatic conditions and defined expected uses, in particular with reference to indoor thermal comfort.

RF Regional Technical Centers for MPC and A Sustainability Operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambert, L D; Toth, W J; Hendrickson, S

2004-01-01

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) programmatic vision to be a catalyst in Russia's assumption of responsibility for long-term system operation is exemplified in the sustainability cooperation with the RF Ministry of Defense (MOD). An identified goal for the MPC and A Program is to encourage the development of Russian Federation (RF) capabilities and commitments to operate and maintain safeguard improvements. The RF MOD Technical Support Center development fulfills the NNSA mission and MPC and A Program goal. The regional technical center concept involves a systematic approach to aid in the determination of the level of sustainability assistance required to transition operators, maintenance, training, and testing of MPC and A systems to the RF MOD. This paper describes the process used to create the RF MOD Technical support center. First are described the needs analyses conducted to determine the key system sustainability factors requiring support. These sustainability functions are then compiled to influence the form and ultimate physical design of the technical support center. Operational interfaces are described, in detail that show the benefit of the center to the individual sites. Finally, benefits relating to information accessibility and other economies of scale are described that highlight the central center concept's strengths

Sustainable transformation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Nicolai Bo

This paper is about sustainable transformation with a particular focus on listed buildings. It is based on the notion that sustainability is not just a question of energy conditions, but also about the building being robust. Robust architecture means that the building can be maintained and rebuilt......, that it can be adapted to changing functional needs, and that it has an architectural and cultural value. A specific proposal for a transformation that enhances the architectural qualities and building heritage values of an existing building forms the empirical material, which is discussed using different...... theoretical lenses. It is proposed that three parameters concerning the ꞌtransformabilityꞌ of the building can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of sustainable transformation: technical aspects, programmatic requirements and narrative value. It is proposed that the concept of ꞌsustainable...

Build IT: Scaling and Sustaining an Afterschool Computer Science Program for Girls

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Melissa; Gorges, Torie; Penuel, William R.

2012-01-01

"Co-design"--including youth development staff along with curriculum designers--is the key to developing an effective program that is both scalable and sustainable. This article describes Build IT, a two-year afterschool and summer curriculum designed to help middle school girls develop fluency in information technology (IT), interest in…

Building a sustainable Academic Health Department: the South Carolina model.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Lillian Upton; Waddell, Lisa; Kyle, Joseph; Hand, Gregory A

2014-01-01

Given the limited resources available to public health, it is critical that university programs complement the development needs of agencies. Unfortunately, academic and practice public health entities have long been challenged in building sustainable collaborations that support practice-based research, teaching, and service. The academic health department concept offers a promising solution. In South Carolina, the partners started their academic health department program with a small grant that expanded into a dynamic infrastructure that supports innovative professional exchange and development programs. This article provides a background and describes the key elements of the South Carolina model: joint leadership, a multicomponent memorandum of agreement, and a shared professional development mission. The combination of these elements allows the partners to leverage resources and deftly respond to challenges and opportunities, ultimately fostering the sustainability of the collaboration.

Surface protection treatments of highly porous building stones and sustainability problems

Science.gov (United States)

Calia, Angela; Lettieri, Maria Teresa; Matera, Loredana; Sileo, Maria

2013-04-01

The growing attention to the cultural value and the potential touristic attraction of the historic towns has led to increasing activities of rehabilitation and conservation of the historical built heritage. Chemical treatments have become a common practice for the protection of the stone building surface against the decay agents and traditional methods of protection, such as the application of sacrificial layers, have been even more neglected. The use of chemical products on large scale works on the historical built heritage draws the attention towards the sustainability of the conservation treatments, that involve peculiar features with relation to the different types of stones. Sustainability is undoubtedly in terms of human and environmental impact of the used products, so that the use of new formulations based on aqueous solvent should be preferred. Sustainability also means the equilibrium between the required performances of the treatments and the preservation of the original stone properties (colour, permeability, etc), namely harmlessness and effectiveness of the treatments. This can be a critical aspect when we deal with very porous stones, namely having porosity between 30-40%, that are widely used in many countries as traditional building materials. In most cases no information - or very general recommendations - is reported in the technical sheets of the conservation products with reference to the application to these types of stones. Relevant problems of compatibility can arise from the significant amounts absorbed by the high porous structure, as well as in terms of cost effectiveness of the treatments. In this work several calcarenites with different petro-physic characteristics and porosity between 30 and 45% are concerned for the assessment of the performance of two commercial water based products for stone protection, respectively an alcoxy-siloxane with low molecular weight and a modified organo-silane. This activity is a part of the Apulia

Access a better development for Chinese sustainable building -A study of problems and proposal from a technical view

OpenAIRE

Gong, Boyun

2012-01-01

Sustainable building issue plays a key role in world sustainable development as the building industry converge major sectors of energy, water and material consumption that have huge affect on social and environment. Modern China is under the process of sifting from agriculture society to industrialized society, experiencing a fast economic growth and urbanization, facing big amount of environment and energy problems. Large amount of migration swam from rural area to urban area, which bring up...

The evaluation of innovative production to ensure quality in sustainable buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonella Postorino

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The LaboReg has spent years to focus on the purpose of internal research on practical application of the achieved  results and the involvement in all phases of business, governments and local entrepreneurs in order to anticipate times and procedures to make a decision towards sustainable solutions. The synergy created between the academic world, the local government and the businesses has put together a research whose main objective is oriented towards the implementation of the productive sectors of the local construction materials to be used in the restoration and rehabilitation of historic buildings and new green building measures in the prospective of environmental sustainability and energy conservation. Within the research programme, interesting results have emerged in the field of experiments called “New Historical Materials.” In this field of ​​activity a research has emerged on the implementation of a prototype of a “new town photovoltaic roof tiles”. The study has provided a first significant result, that is the development of a model of assessment and control of production processes, and some innovative materials.

Proposed strategies for designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City responding to critical urban issues

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Nguyen Hoang Long; Huan Giang, Ngoc; Binh Duong, Trong

2018-03-01

This paper aims at finding practical strategies for designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City responding to varied municipal issues. Two steps are made. Step-1 identifies the critical issues of Ho Chi Minh City which are associated with high-rise apartment building projects. Step-2 finds potential and applicable strategies which are solutions for the critical issues in Step-1 with reference of seven selected assessment methods. The study finds the set of 58 strategies applicable to designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City.

Sustainability and productivity of southern pine ecosystems: A thematic framework for integrating research and building partnerships

Science.gov (United States)

Charles K. McMahon; James P. Barnett

2000-01-01

In 1997, the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) published a Strategic Plan that formed a framework for addressing the Sustainability of Southern Forest Ecosystems. Six crosscutting themes were identified to facilitate research integration and partnership building among the widely dispersed SRS research work units. The Sustainability and Productivity of...

Local and Sustainable Food Supply: The Role of European Retail Consumer Co-operatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Hingley

2012-03-01

Full Text Available  This paper investigates the rationale for local and sustainable food systems and retailer co-operatives as their entry points within local conditions. Emphasis is on localised food networks and connection between socially as well as environmentally sustainable production, distribution and consumption. Investigated is the premise that co-operative organisational structures, for reasons of their long-term socially responsible origins are at the forefront of development of local and sustainable food systems and are thereby in a position to offer a specific contribution to market development. Two key research questions are proposed: Firstly, is there a pre-determination of co-operatives to issues of sustainable and local food sourcing given the historical and practical context of their ethical/socially responsible and stakeholder-based business model? Secondly, do co-ops express support for re-localising food systems and what contribution do they make concerning sustainable food and their relationships with local food suppliers? The method of investigation is through a two country retailer co-operative sector analysis and comparison (Finland and Italy. The enquiry is qualitative and exploratory in nature in the form of an embedded, multiple case design. The paper makes practical and theoretical contribution to knowledge concerning interpretation of ‘localness’ in food, the role of co-operatives and the co-operative ethos in sustainable food systems and the development of the local food economy. Results of the study show a positive relationship between co-operative ethos and (social sustainability in local food, but the de-centralised nature of retailer co-operation also provides a barrier to replication of good practice.

Open Space between Residential Buildings as a Factor of Sustainable Development - Case Studies in Brno (Czech Republic) and Vienna (Austria)

Science.gov (United States)

Kilnarová, Pavla; Wittmann, Maxmilian

2017-12-01

The characteristics of open spaces between residential buildings have, as authors suppose, an impact on the sustainable development of urban areas. Spatial arrangement and accessibility of these spaces, the type and height of surrounding buildings, the quantity and character of greenery, and many more characteristics influence the quality of environment, and the quality of life of local residents. These and further characteristics of the open spaces between residential buildings influence the ecological stability of the area, its hygienic qualities, the intensity and way of using by various social groups, and also the prices of real estates. These qualities indicate the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the urban area. The proposed research methodology assessed specific indicators of sustainability within a range from 0 to 10 points. 5 points correspond to the general standard in the area, 0 points indicate degradation, and 10 points indicate the highest contribution to sustainable development. Observation methods, questionnaire survey, statistical analyses, and methods of measurement were used to determine the values of the given indicators. The paper analyses the impact of the open spaces between residential buildings on sustainability via the case studies performed in the Central European cities of Brno, Czech Republic and Vienna, Austria. Two forms of residential urban structures in the City of Brno in the Czech Republic were selected for the analysis: the closed courtyards in the urban block from the 19th century and the open spaces in the housing estates constructed under socialism in the 20th century. The question is, if the different forms of spaces between residential buildings influence the sustainability of urban area and satisfaction of inhabitants in different ways. A complementary case study in Vienna indicates that inhabitants of a housing estate in Vienna, as well as inhabitants of housing estates in Brno, highly appreciate the

SUSTAINABLE AND DESIGN BUILDING PROCESSES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvio F. R. MOTTA

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The article presents a historical revision of the sustainable development and the sustainable in the constructed environment. It describes the main concepts and practices for implantation of the sustainable in the civil construction. These concepts and practices are reviewed from the perspective of the dialectic method, the general theory of systems and the theories of creative processes. These concepts are also analyzed from the perspective of quality management. The article proposes a model based on the dialectic, in which sustainability is considered an open system and a search inventive. The implantation of the sustainable in projects, companies and design processes are considered as main strategy. A vertical insertion of the sustainable in the process is proposal. In this vertical insertion, the sustainable is presents in all the phases and activities of the process. The model is organized to promote the external creative solutions to the process, through the promotion of research centers. Tools of selection of possibilities and practical are suggested, considering the characteristic dialectics proposals. The article concludes that sustainable is a cultural change in the processes, practical and management current.

Sustainable capacity building among immigrant communities: the raising sexually healthy children program in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Narushima, Miya; Wong, Josephine Pui-Hing; Li, Anda; Sutdhibhasilp, Noulmook

2014-03-01

The Raising Sexually Healthy Children (RSHC) program is a peer-to-peer leadership training program for immigrant parents in Toronto, Canada. It was established in 1998 with the goal of promoting family sex education and parent-child communication. This evaluative study examined the developmental processes and outcomes of the RSHC program to identify the strengths, challenges and insights that can be used to improve the program. It employed a multi-case study approach to compare the RSHC programs delivered in the Chinese, Portuguese and Tamil communities. Data collection methods included focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis. The cross-case analysis identified both common and unique capacity building processes and outcomes in the three communities. In this paper, we report factors that have enhanced and hindered sustainable capacity building at the individual, group/organizational and community levels, and the strategies used by these communities to address challenges common to immigrant families. We will discuss the ecological and synergetic, but time-consuming processes of capacity building, which contributed to the sustainability of RSHC as an empowering health promotion program for immigrant communities. We conclude the paper by noting the implications of using a capacity building approach to promote family health in ethno-racial-linguistic minority communities.

75 FR 34657 - Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Design Standards for New Federal Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-18

... Efficiency and Sustainable Design Standards for New Federal Buildings AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and....S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Federal Energy Management... June 11, 2010. Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. [FR Doc. 2010...

Conceptual Model Development of Sustainability Practices: The Case of Port Operations for Collaboration and Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalwon Kang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainability practices in port operations are critical issue to achieve port sustainability involving economic, social and environmental issues. To assist ports to successfully implant sustainability practices into their operations, this paper conceptualized the structure of sustainability practices in international port operations, by clustering the relevant issues, empirically. Using 203 samples collected from port stakeholders in the major ports in Northeast Asia, multi-measurement items were analyzed on exploratory factor analysis in SPSS 21. Results generated a structure that consists of five sub-dimensions conceptualizing sustainability practices in the context of port operations. As operative practices to accommodate current and future demands in a port, the five-factor model clustering the relevant issues incorporate environmental technologies, process and quality improvement, monitoring and upgrading, communication and cooperation, and active participation. Providing useful insights for strategic agenda to assist ports to incorporate sustainability practices in their operations, the five-factor model offer both a descriptive and diagnostic management tool for future improvement in port operations.

Sustainable enterprise in office buildings of small businesses; Duurzaam ondernemen in het kantoorhoudende MKB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bertens, C. [Panteia/EIM, Zoetermeer (Netherlands); Muizer, A. [Panteia/Consult, Zoetermeer (Netherlands)

2012-05-15

SMEs in the Netherlands will increasingly face stricter sustainability criteria in procurement procedures. A study has been carried out among 375 small businesses that will provide insight into the state of sustainability in office buildings of SMEs. Attention is paid to the importance of sustainability, measures taken with regard to sustainable enterprising, plans and ambitions; and required support [Dutch] Het MKB krijgt in toenemende mate te maken met strengere duurzaamheidseisen in aanbestedingsprocedures. Er is onderzoek gedaan onder 375 bedrijven waarmee inzicht wordt gegeven in de stand van zaken van duurzaam ondernemen in het kantoorhoudend MKB. Het gaat in grote lijnen om de volgende aspecten: het belang van duurzaam ondernemen; genomen maatregelen op het gebied van duurzaam ondernemen; plannen en ambities; benodigde ondersteuning.

Building a Sustainable Energy Future for Africa - Acting Now and Together

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fall, L.

2007-07-01

The key energy challenges Africa is facing are: low level of access to commercial energy, low per capita energy consumption, weak development of energy infrastructure and lack of investment and financing for energy projects. Addressing these challenges is critical for sustainable economic and social development, and assured access to secure, affordable and reliable energy. In spite of these daunting challenges, Africa is well endowed in energy resources, but these resources are largely untapped and concentrated in a few countries. In addition, there are numerous 'rooms' for opportunities that could be seized concretely to overcome the main obstacles to the Sustainable Energy Development of the Continent. Thus, right actions must be taken to overcome these obstacles, including: financing the huge needed investments, technological development, private-public partnerships, energy market reform and effective regulation, sound and sustainable energy policies, and economic and social measures. Subsequently, from priority areas, the related stakeholders should 'act now' and 'act together', through effective collaboration and partnership and making proper alliances, to initiate effective and concrete actions to support Africa aspirations in order to build a Sustainable Energy Future for Africa, in a cost-effective and timely manner. (auth)

Advanced, Integrated Control for Building Operations to Achieve 40% Energy Saving

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Yan; Song, Zhen; Loftness, Vivian; Ji, Kun; Zheng, Sam; Lasternas, Bertrand; Marion, Flore; Yuebin, Yu

2012-10-15

We developed and demonstrated a software based integrated advanced building control platform called Smart Energy Box (SEB), which can coordinate building subsystem controls, integrate variety of energy optimization algorithms and provide proactive and collaborative energy management and control for building operations using weather and occupancy information. The integrated control system is a low cost solution and also features: Scalable component based architecture allows to build a solution for different building control system configurations with needed components; Open Architecture with a central data repository for data exchange among runtime components; Extendible to accommodate variety of communication protocols. Optimal building control for central loads, distributed loads and onsite energy resource; uses web server as a loosely coupled way to engage both building operators and building occupants in collaboration for energy conservation. Based on the open platform of SEB, we have investigated and evaluated a variety of operation and energy saving control strategies on Carnegie Mellon University Intelligent Work place which is equipped with alternative cooling/heating/ventilation/lighting methods, including radiant mullions, radiant cooling/heating ceiling panels, cool waves, dedicated ventilation unit, motorized window and blinds, and external louvers. Based on the validation results of these control strategies, they were integrated in SEB in a collaborative and dynamic way. This advanced control system was programmed and computer tested with a model of the Intelligent Workplace's northern section (IW_n). The advanced control program was then installed in the IW_n control system; the performance was measured and compared with that of the state of the art control system to verify the overall energy savings great than 40%. In addition advanced human machine interfaces (HMI's) were developed to communicate both with building

DRIVER: Building a Sustainable Infrastructure of European Scientific Repositories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norbert Lossau

2008-11-01

Full Text Available DRIVER has a clear vision: All research institutions in Europe and worldwide make all their research publications openly accessible through institutional repositories. The vision follows the Berlin Declaration, which called in October 2003 for ‘free and unrestricted access to sciences and human knowledge representation worldwide’. Initiated by the internationally renowned German research organisation the Max-Planck-Society, and signed by many international research organisations and institutes, the Berlin Declaration has set a political statement. In building a sustainable infrastructure for scientific repositories, DRIVER brings to this statement the reality of scholarly communication in the future.

Design Solutions for Sustainable Construction of Pre Engineered Steel Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Umair Saleem

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Sustainable construction of ecofriendly infrastructure has been the priority of worldwide researchers. The induction of modern technology in the steel manufacturing industry has enabled designers to get the desired control over the steel section shapes and profiles resulting in efficient use of construction material and manufacturing energy required to produce these materials. The current research study is focused on the optimization of steel building costs with the use of pre-engineered building construction technology. Construction of conventional steel buildings (CSB incorporates the use of hot rolled sections, which have uniform cross-section throughout the length. However, pre-engineered steel buildings (PEB utilize steel sections, which are tailored and profiled based on the required loading effects. In this research study, the performance of PEB steel frames in terms of optimum use of steel sections and its comparison with the conventional steel building is presented in detail. A series of PEB and CSB steel frames is selected and subjected to various loading conditions. Frames were analyzed using Finite Element Based analysis tool and design was performed using American Institute of Steel Construction design specifications. Comparison of the frames has been established in terms of frame weights, lateral displacements (sway and vertical displacements (deflection of the frames. The results have clearly indicated that PEB steel frames are not only the most economical solution due to lesser weight of construction but also have shown better performance compared to CSB frames.

STUDY OF SHELL FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT OF SUSTAINABLE LOW-RISE BUILDING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DANISHEVSKYI V. V.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article presents the results of study the shell for energy-efficient environmental low-rise residential building, corresponding to the criteria of sustainable development in construction. Purpose. The purpose of the presented research is providing a study of parameters for shell of energy-efficient environmental low-rise buildings. Methodology. Research is carried out on the basis of an improved method for calculating the thermal characteristics of the external walling, as well as physical heat transfer simulation. Conclusion.The ratio between the thickness of external walling and the proportion of heat loss through them was determined, and also the heat loss through thermal "bridges" was studied. Originality. The limits for the optimum thickness of the external walling of ecological materials was analyzed, and it was offered solution for minimization of heat loss through the nodes of shell. Practical value.Recommendations are worked out on constructing of thermal shell at planning of energy-efficient low-rise residential buildings.

Biosafety and Biosecurity: A Relative Risk-Based Framework for Safer, More Secure, and Sustainable Laboratory Capacity Building.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickmann, Petra; Sheeley, Heather; Lightfoot, Nigel

2015-01-01

Laboratory capacity building is characterized by a paradox between endemicity and resources: countries with high endemicity of pathogenic agents often have low and intermittent resources (water, electricity) and capacities (laboratories, trained staff, adequate regulations). Meanwhile, countries with low endemicity of pathogenic agents often have high-containment facilities with costly infrastructure and maintenance governed by regulations. The common practice of exporting high biocontainment facilities and standards is not sustainable and concerns about biosafety and biosecurity require careful consideration. A group at Chatham House developed a draft conceptual framework for safer, more secure, and sustainable laboratory capacity building. The draft generic framework is guided by the phrase "LOCAL - PEOPLE - MAKE SENSE" that represents three major principles: capacity building according to local needs (local) with an emphasis on relationship and trust building (people) and continuous outcome and impact measurement (make sense). This draft generic framework can serve as a blueprint for international policy decision-making on improving biosafety and biosecurity in laboratory capacity building, but requires more testing and detailing development.

Biosafety and Biosecurity: A relative risk-based framework for safer, more secure and sustainable laboratory capacity building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra eDickmann

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Laboratory capacity building is characterized by a paradox between endemicity and resources: Countries with high endemicity of pathogenic agents often have low and intermittent resources (water, electricity and capacities (laboratories, trained staff, adequate regulations. Meanwhile, countries with low endemicity of pathogenic agents often have high containment facilities with costly infrastructure and maintenance governed by regulations. The common practice of exporting high biocontainment facilities and standards is not sustainable and concerns about biosafety and biosecurity require careful consideration. Methods: A group at Chatham House developed a draft conceptual framework for safer, more secure and sustainable laboratory capacity building. Results: The draft generic framework is guided by the phrase ‘LOCAL – PEOPLE – MAKE SENSE’ that represents three major principles: capacity building according to local needs (local with an emphasis on relationship and trust-building (people and continuous outcome and impact measurement (make sense. Conclusions: This draft generic framework can serve as a blueprint for international policy decision-making on improving biosafety and biosecurity in laboratory capacity building, but requires more testing and detailing development.

Universities in capacity building in sustainable development: focus on solid waste management and technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Agamuthu, P; Hansen, Jens Aage

2007-06-01

This paper analyses some of the higher education and research capacity building experiences gained from 1998-2006 by Danish and Malaysian universities. The focus is on waste management, directly relating to both the environmental and socio-economic dimensions of sustainable development. Primary benefits, available as an educational legacy to universities, were obtained in terms of new and enhanced study curricula established on Problem-oriented Project-based Learning (POPBL) pedagogy, which strengthened academic environmental programmes at Malaysian and Danish universities. It involved more direct and mutually beneficial cooperation between academia and businesses in both countries. This kind of university reach-out is considered vital to development in all countries actively striving for global and sustainable development. Supplementary benefits were accrued for those involved directly in activities such as the 4 months of field studies, workshops, field courses and joint research projects. For students and academics, the gains have been new international dimensions in university curricula, enhanced career development and research collaboration based on realworld cases. It is suggested that the area of solid waste management offers opportunities for much needed capacity building in higher education and research, contributing to sustainable waste management on a global scale. Universities should be more actively involved in such educational, research and innovation programmes to make the necessary progress. ISWA can support capacity building activities by utilizing its resources--providing a lively platform for debate, securing dissemination of new knowledge, and furthering international networking beyond that which universities already do by themselves. A special challenge to ISWA may be to improve national and international professional networks between academia and business, thereby making education, research and innovation the key driving mechanisms in

Sustainable transformation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Nicolai Bo

This paper is about sustainable transformation with a particular focus on listed buildings. It is based on the notion that sustainability is not just a question of energy conditions, but also about the building being robust. Robust architecture means that the building can be maintained and rebuil...

A multi-methodology and sustainability-supporting framework for implementation and assessment of a holistic building renovation: Implementation and assessment of a holistic sustainable building renovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kamari, Aliakbar

. The research strategy employed in this thesis presents characteristics of two research types, namely the qualitative research approach, and the inter- or transdisciplinary research throughout mode 2. It therefore calls for an inductive research approach and involves an interpretive approach and comparative...... a deep building renovation and an ordinary one is a commitment to a holistic approach in which objectives/criteria are targeted early in the design stages and subsequently are considered for their interdependence throughout sustainability perspectives. A review of recent research has revealed...... is entitled RE-VALUE . The case study is Section 3 of Skovgårdsparken located in Brabrand, Denmark. It is a social housing complex (including nine blocks), and has been renovated by Brabrand Housing Association. The future of the research in this thesis concerns expanding of the TSBD framework for Building...

A review on the sustainability of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment: Design and operation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Haiming; Zhang, Jian; Ngo, Huu Hao; Guo, Wenshan; Hu, Zhen; Liang, Shuang; Fan, Jinlin; Liu, Hai

2015-01-01

Constructed wetlands (CWs) have been used as a green technology to treat various wastewaters for several decades. CWs offer a land-intensive, low-energy, and less-operational-requirements alternative to conventional treatment systems, especially for small communities and remote locations. However, the sustainable operation and successful application of these systems remains a challenge. Hence, this paper aims to provide and inspire sustainable solutions for the performance and application of CWs by giving a comprehensive review of CWs' application and the recent development on their sustainable design and operation for wastewater treatment. Firstly, a brief summary on the definition, classification and application of current CWs was presented. The design parameters and operational conditions of CWs including plant species, substrate types, water depth, hydraulic load, hydraulic retention time and feeding mode related to the sustainable operation for wastewater treatments were then discussed. Lastly, future research on improving the stability and sustainability of CWs were highlighted. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Industrialization in the Building Industry: On the Road to Energy Efficient Construction Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wandahl, Søren; Ussing, Lene Faber

2013-01-01

Since the Brundtland report in 1987, sustainability has been an issue in all parts of the world, and the focus is increasing in these years. In the same period, the building industry has in the same period also been under heavy pressure to increase productivity in the same pace as other manufactu......Since the Brundtland report in 1987, sustainability has been an issue in all parts of the world, and the focus is increasing in these years. In the same period, the building industry has in the same period also been under heavy pressure to increase productivity in the same pace as other...... manufacturing industries. An important question, then, is how well these two highly relevant areas can go hand in hand. By means of comparing the main ideas and drivers behind sustainability and industrialization, respectively, common threads, possible synergies and evident barriers are put forward...... in this discussion paper. The main method is a review to track past merits in the two domains and to detect knowledge gaps that have research potential. A strategic research agenda focusing on energy-efficient construction management is outlined showing the need for future focus on combining industrialization...

Sustainable solutions for cooling systems in residential buildings: case study in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Foudzai, F.; M' Rithaa, M. [Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town (South Africa). Dept. of Industrial Design

2010-07-01

The energy demand in building sectors for summer air-conditioning is growing exponentially due to thermal loads, increased living standards and occupant comfort demands throughout the last decades. This increasing consumption of primary energy is contributing significantly to emission of greenhouse gases and therefore to global warming. Moreover, fossil fuels, current main sources of energy used for electricity generation, are being depleted at an alarming rate despite continued warning. In addition, most air-conditioning equipment still utilise CFCs, promoting further destruction of our planet's protective ozone layer. Concerns over these environmental changes, have begun shifting the emphasis from current cooling methods, to 'sustainable strategies' of achieving equally comfortable conditions in building interiors. Study of ancient strategies applied by vernacular architecture shows how the indigenously clean energies to satisfy the cooling need were used. One of the most important influences on vernacular architecture is the macro-climate of the area in which the building is constructed. Mediterranean vernacular architecture, as well as that of much of the Middle East, often includes a courtyard with a fountain or pond; air cooled by water mist and evaporation is drawn through the building by the natural ventilation set up by the building form, and in many cases also includes wind-catchers to draw air through the internal spaces. Similarly, Northern African vernacular designs often have very high thermal mass and small windows to keep the occupants cool. Not only vernacular structure but also the recent development in solar and geothermal cooling technologies could be used to the needs for environmental control. Intelligent coupling of these methods as alternative design strategies could help developing countries such as South Africa toward sustainable development in airconditioning of building. In this paper, the possible strategies for

Sustainable building assessment tool: integrating sustainability into current design and building processes

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Gibberd, Jeremy T

2008-09-01

Full Text Available the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems. ( International Union for Conservation of Nature 1991) These definitions focus on what Wackernagel and Yount call the “socio-economic” and “ecological imperatives” of sustainability (Wackernagel et al, 2000.... Figure 1 Human development and ecological footprints 2003 (from the Living Planet Report) The figure is interesting in that it suggest that only one country (in Latin America and the Caribbean) meets the minimum criteria for sustainability...

Multifamily Building Operator Job/Task Analysis and Report: September 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Owens, C. M.

2013-09-01

The development of job/task analyses (JTAs) is one of three components of the Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals project and will allow industry to develop training resources, quality assurance protocols, accredited training programs, and professional certifications. The Multifamily Building Operator JTA identifies and catalogs all of the tasks performed by multifamily building operators, as well as the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed to perform the identified tasks.

Integrating Sustainable Development into Operations Management Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Fredriksson, Peter; Persson, Magnus

2011-01-01

Purpose: It is widely acknowledged that aspects of sustainable development (SD) should be integrated into higher level operations management (OM) education. The aim of the paper is to outline the experiences gained at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden from integrating aspects of SD into OM courses. Design/methodology/approach: The paper…

Operational Art and the Sustainment Warfighting Function

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

Infantry Division (ID) a continuous sustainment line of operation. The leap- frogging of Forward Logisitics Bases provided 3rd Infantry Division (ID...victims. A C-17 Globemaster III departed North Carolina and delivered 14,000 Meals Ready-to- Eat , or MREs, and 14,000 quarts of water in a 7-hour round

Summary of detailed energy audit and building simulation on archetype sustainable house, Woodbridge ON

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fung, A. [Ryerson Polytechnic Univ., Toronto, ON (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; Dembo, A.; Zhou, J. [Ryerson Polytechnic Univ., Toronto, ON (Canada). Dept. of Architectural Science

2009-07-01

This paper described energy and audit and building simulations conducted on an archetype sustainable house located in Woodbridge, Ontario. The house formed part of a project to construct low energy, sustainable house designs for mass production. The 2 houses formed a duplex. House A was designed using current best design practices, while house B was equipped with advanced and innovative technologies not commonly used in residential constructions. Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan) HOT2000 residential building simulation program was used to evaluate the performance of both houses in the duplex. The simulation program demonstrated that house B performed more efficiently than house A. However, neither houses met their designed values. Significantly larger space heating and cooling loads were identified. The program showed that additional weather-stripping around doors, and caulking around windows will help to reduce the amount of draft in the houses. Assessments are also needed to measure heat losses from the common wall in the basement. It was concluded that the energy performance of the house can be optimized by using the appropriate sealing techniques throughout the building envelope. 2 refs., 1 tab.

Smart sustainable cities | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-06-06

Jun 6, 2016 ... Smart Cities for Sustainable Development ... Smart Cities have emerged as a response to the challenges and opportunities created by rapid urbanization. ... This report, produced by the United Nations University's Operating Unit on ... Teacher education program explores building professional learning ...

Impact of Sustainable Cool Roof Technology on Building Energy Consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Vuppuluri, Prem Kiran

Highly reflective roofing systems have been analyzed over several decades to evaluate their ability to meet sustainability goals, including reducing building energy consumption and mitigating the urban heat island. Studies have isolated and evaluated the effects of climate, surface reflectivity, and roof insulation on energy savings, thermal load mitigation and also ameliorating the urban heat island. Other sustainable roofing systems, like green-roofs and solar panels have been similarly evaluated. The motivation for the present study is twofold: the first goal is to present a method for simultaneous evaluation and inter-comparison of multiple roofing systems, and the second goal is to quantitatively evaluate the realized heating and cooling energy savings associated with a white roof system compared to the reduction in roof-top heat flux. To address the first research goal a field experiment was conducted at the International Harvester Building located in Portland, OR. Thermal data was collected for a white roof, vegetated roof, and a solar panel shaded vegetated roof, and the heat flux through these roofing systems was compared against a control patch of conventional dark roof membrane. The second research goal was accomplished using a building energy simulation program to determine the impact of roof area and roof insulation on the savings from a white roof, in both Portland and Phoenix. The ratio of cooling energy savings to roof heat flux reduction from replacing a dark roof with a white roof was 1:4 for the month of July, and 1:5 annually in Portland. The COP of the associated chillers ranges from 2.8-4.2, indicating that the ratio of cooling energy savings to heat flux reduction is not accounted for solely by the COP of the chillers. The results of the building simulation indicate that based on energy savings alone, white roofs are not an optimal choice for Portland. The benefits associated with cooling energy savings relative to a black roof are offset by

Glacier Monitoring and Capacity Building: Important Ingredients for Sustainable Mountain Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel U. Nussbaumer

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Glacier observation data from major mountain regions of the world are key to improving our understanding of glacier changes: they deliver fundamental baseline information for climatological, hydrological, and hazard assessments. In many mountain ecosystems, as well as in the adjacent lowlands, glaciers play a crucial role in freshwater provision and regulation. This article first presents the state of the art on glacier monitoring and related strategies within the framework of the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers (GTN-G. Both in situ measurements of changes in glacier mass, volume, and length as well as remotely sensed data on glacier extents and changes over entire mountain ranges provide clear indications of climate change. Based on experiences from capacity-building activities undertaken in the Tropical Andes and Central Asia over the past years, we also review the state of the art on institutional capacity in these regions and make further recommendations for sustainable mountain development. The examples from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Kyrgyzstan demonstrate that a sound understanding of measurement techniques and of the purpose of measurements is necessary for successful glacier monitoring. In addition, establishing durable institutions, capacity-building programs, and related funding is necessary to ensure that glacier monitoring is sustainable and maintained in the long term. Therefore, strengthening regional cooperation, collaborating with local scientists and institutions, and enhancing knowledge sharing and dialogue are envisaged within the GTN-G. Finally, glacier monitoring enhances the resilience of the populations that depend on water resources from glacierized mountains or that are affected by hazards related to glacier changes. We therefore suggest that glacier monitoring be included in the development of sustainable adaptation strategies in regions with glaciated mountains.

Sustainability in School Building Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Ece ŞAHİN

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainable construction is important for the continuation of life in a healthy world for futuregenerations; many issues affecting the quality of life such as effective use of resources, take advantage ofrenewable energy, the choice of recyclable materials that do not harm the environment and waterconservation are considered in the context of sustainable design. Implementations carried out in thisframework are regarded as valuable due to providing the consciousness of sustainability to the society.Creating the awareness of sustainability is given a great importance by educators; thus, “education forsustainability” are included from the preschool program so that children can learn the gainings of suchperspective in their early ages. In support of this concept, it is believed that education structures should bea laboratory where children can practice theoretical knowledge learned at school. In that respect, studiesneed to be considered in the context of sustainable construction are studied in this research. In the study,after a description of the importance of sustainable design as a learning mean, significant subjects such asusing natural light, heating, cooling and air-conditioning methods, wind energy, water protection andmaterial selection are analyzed in terms of designing sustainable schools. It is criticized worldwide thatstructures ground on sustainable design principles are relatively few in numbers. Despite, there is anincreasing interest to the subject in Turkey later years; a lot more steps are required in terms ofimplementation and research of the issue. Thus, the purpose of the study is to provide a supplementaryreference for school designs.

Building Design & Construction - Sustainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2003-11-01

Offers a brief history of green building; presents the results of a specially commissioned survey; and analyzes the chief trends, issues, and published research, based on interviews with dozens of experts and participants in green building.

Strategic collective system building by firms who launch sustainability innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maryse M.H. Chappin; Julia Planko; Marko P. Hekkert; Jacqueline M. Cramer

2014-01-01

The implementation of innovative sustainability technologies often requires far reaching changes of the macro environment in which the innovating firms operate. Strategic management literature describes that firms who want to commercialize an innovative technology can collaborate in networks or

Capacities for the Risk Assessment of GMOs: Challenges to Build Sustainable Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danilo Fernández Ríos

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The need for functional risk assessment bodies in general, and in the biosafety field in particular, demands continued efforts and commitment from regulatory agencies, if results that are sustainable in time are to be achieved. The lack of formal processes that ensure continuity in the application of state of the art scientific criteria, the high rotation in some cases or the lack of experienced professionals, in others, is a challenge to be addressed. Capacity building initiatives with different approaches and degrees of success have been implemented in many countries over the years, supported by diverse governmental and non-governmental organizations. This document summarizes some capacity building experiences in developing countries and concludes that risk assessors taking ownership and regulatory authorities fully committed to developing and retaining highly qualified bodies are a sine qua non to achieve sustainable systems. To this end, it is essential to implement “in-house” continuing education mechanisms supported by external experts and organizations, and inter-institutional cooperation. It has to be noted that these recommendations could only be realized if policy makers understand and appreciate the value of professional, independent regulatory bodies.

Capacities for the Risk Assessment of GMOs: Challenges to Build Sustainable Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández Ríos, Danilo; Rubinstein, Clara; Vicién, Carmen

2018-01-01

The need for functional risk assessment bodies in general, and in the biosafety field in particular, demands continued efforts and commitment from regulatory agencies, if results that are sustainable in time are to be achieved. The lack of formal processes that ensure continuity in the application of state of the art scientific criteria, the high rotation in some cases or the lack of experienced professionals, in others, is a challenge to be addressed. Capacity building initiatives with different approaches and degrees of success have been implemented in many countries over the years, supported by diverse governmental and non-governmental organizations. This document summarizes some capacity building experiences in developing countries and concludes that risk assessors taking ownership and regulatory authorities fully committed to developing and retaining highly qualified bodies are a sine qua non to achieve sustainable systems. To this end, it is essential to implement "in-house" continuing education mechanisms supported by external experts and organizations, and inter-institutional cooperation. It has to be noted that these recommendations could only be realized if policy makers understand and appreciate the value of professional, independent regulatory bodies.

Transforming BIM to BEM: Generation of Building Geometry for the NASA Ames Sustainability Base BIM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Donnell, James T. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Maile, Tobias [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Rose, Cody [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Mrazovic, Natasa [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Morrissey, Elmer [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Regnier, Cynthia [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Parrish, Kristen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Bazjanac, Vladimir [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2013-01-01

Typical processes of whole Building Energy simulation Model (BEM) generation are subjective, labor intensive, time intensive and error prone. Essentially, these typical processes reproduce already existing data, i.e. building models already created by the architect. Accordingly, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) developed a semi-automated process that enables reproducible conversions of Building Information Model (BIM) representations of building geometry into a format required by building energy modeling (BEM) tools. This is a generic process that may be applied to all building energy modeling tools but to date has only been used for EnergyPlus. This report describes and demonstrates each stage in the semi-automated process for building geometry using the recently constructed NASA Ames Sustainability Base throughout. This example uses ArchiCAD (Graphisoft, 2012) as the originating CAD tool and EnergyPlus as the concluding whole building energy simulation tool. It is important to note that the process is also applicable for professionals that use other CAD tools such as Revit (“Revit Architecture,” 2012) and DProfiler (Beck Technology, 2012) and can be extended to provide geometry definitions for BEM tools other than EnergyPlus. Geometry Simplification Tool (GST) was used during the NASA Ames project and was the enabling software that facilitated semi-automated data transformations. GST has now been superseded by Space Boundary Tool (SBT-1) and will be referred to as SBT-1 throughout this report. The benefits of this semi-automated process are fourfold: 1) reduce the amount of time and cost required to develop a whole building energy simulation model, 2) enable rapid generation of design alternatives, 3) improve the accuracy of BEMs and 4) result in significantly better performing buildings with significantly lower energy consumption than those created using the traditional design process, especially if the simulation model was used as a predictive

Climate Responsive Buildings Concepts in Hong Kong

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haase, M.; Amato, A.; van der Aa, A.

2006-01-01

There is a global need for a more sustainable building development. About 50% of energy is used in buildings indicating that buildings provide a considerable potential for operational energy savings. Studies were conducted with the following objectives: to perform a state-of-the-art review...... energy saving installations are increasingly applied as heat pumps in combination with energy storage, balanced ventilation with heat recovery, cooling towers etc. In Hong Kong in most cases there is no integrated design process for building projects. This means that projects are developed and designed...

Building Evidence for Sustainability of Food and Nutrition Intervention Programs in Developing Countries12

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sunny S.; Rogers, Beatrice L.; Coates, Jennifer; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Sarriot, Eric

2013-01-01

After making large investments to put in place effective health and nutrition interventions, researchers, program implementers, policy makers, and donors all expect lasting effects. However, it is uncertain whether this is the case, and there is less certainty on how to approach the study of program sustainability. This symposium, “Building Evidence for Sustainability of Food and Nutrition Intervention Programs in Developing Countries,” provided not only frameworks for conceptualizing sustainability but concrete evidence about the approaches and methods used as well as lessons on how they do or do not work in particular contexts. We presented the following findings: 1) sustainability of activities and impacts of Title II food aid programs in Bolivia and Kenya, 2) sustainability of impact in terms of adoption and consumption of a biofortified orange sweet potato in Uganda, and 3) lessons from incorporating pro-sustainability investment strategies in child survival programs in Guinea. Our symposium introduced a new important body of research on program sustainability to provide insights and stimulate innovative thinking in the design and planning of further applied research and future prosustainability intervention programs. PMID:24038245

U.S. architects report increased adoption of green building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2008-12-15

This article discussed results of the 2008 Green Index survey conducted by Autodesk Inc., a company that is committed to developing software for easier and more efficient sustainable building design. The survey, which questioned members of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), revealed that architects and building owners have increased the implementation of sustainable design practices in response to a greater demand from clients. An increase in implementing green building elements of 15 per cent from 2007 may indicate a shift in attitude towards climate change. The primary reasons clients are asking for green buildings are reduced operating costs, marketing and marketing demand. The survey showed that 41 per cent of architects are using software to help predict and evaluate the environmental impact and lifecycle of their buildings as well as the HVAC operating costs and alternative building materials. The survey also showed that 24 per cent of architects are currently implementing green roofs on more than half of their new projects, compared with 7 per cent in 2007. Also, 39 per cent are using renewable, on-site energy sources such as solar, wind ,geothermal, low impact hydro, or biomass on more than half of new building designs compared with only 6 per cent in 2007. 1 ref.

Sustainability and within use office building adapations : A comparison of Dutch and Australian practices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilkinson, S.J.; Remøy, H.T.

2011-01-01

Local Authorities worldwide are encouraging adaptation as a means of reducing building related urban energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The City of Melbourne is promoting the retrofit of 1,200 CBD properties before 2020 with sustainability measures as part of their policy to become a

Rapid and sustained cost management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanson, D.

2009-01-01

Accenture helps clients develop comprehensive, process-driven strategies for rapid and sustained cost management that leverage deep insights and analytics. This approach enables companies to gain operating cost advantages by rationalizing, simplifying and automating current operating capabilities. It drives structural cost advantages by optimizing business mix, capital structure, organizational structure and geographic presence. This paper discussed how successful companies achieve high performance during times of economic turmoil. It also discussed the value of the winner's strategy in terms of rapid and sustained cost management (RSCM). It discussed how Accenture operates and its leveraged capabilities, improved efficiency, margins and cash flow while maintaining customer service levels. Building structural advantage and the Accenture difference were also discussed. It was concluded that RSCM is one vital way that Accenture can help companies achieve success. 4 figs

Sleep/Wakefulness Management in Continuous/Sustained Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2002-11-01

eleventh and last lecture. Measures like phototherapy and adapted social environments are discussed, and problems associated with the use of chronobiotic...1-1 Individual Differences in Vigilance and Performance during Continuous/Sustained Operations Maria Casagrande Dipartimento di Psicologia Università...Carver CS, Scheier MF, Weintraub JK (1989) Assessing coping strategies: a theoretical based approach, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Fostering sustainable operations in a natural resource management agency: insights from the field

Science.gov (United States)

Patricia L. Winter; Shawn M. Burn

2010-01-01

Sustainable operations (SO; operating in an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable manner) is consistent with the environmental stewardship mission of natural resource management organizations. This study sought to examine SO practices in the daily work lives of US Forest Service employees, including those primarily stationed in the office and in the...

Towards Sustainability: Effective Operations Strategies, Quality Management and Operational Excellence in Banking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesna Tornjanski

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper sets out to extend and deepen the understanding the ways toward economic sustainability through efficient and effective growth operations strategies, quality management and operational excellence in banking. In this study we define new quality management practices based on developed conceptual architecture of digital platform for operations function in banking. Additionally, we employ decision making framework consisted of two parts: introduction of new operations services using Total Unduplicated Reach and Frequency (TURF statistical analysis and segregation of core from actual and augmented operations services utilizing Analytic Network Process (ANP method based on BOCR model. Proposed quality management practices were used for the first time in this paper for particular purposes and have the high potential to impact the excellence in banking business. The study can contribute to operations management, quality management, innovation management, IT management, business process management and decision making in service organizations.

Supervision functions - Secure operation of sustainable power systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morais, Hugo; Zhang, Xinxin; Lind, Morten

2013-01-01

of power systems operation control. The use of PMUs allows more penetration of DG mainly, with technologies based on renewable resources with intermittent and unpredictable operation such a wind power. This paper introduces the Secure Operation of Sustainable Power Systems (SOSPO) project. The SOSPO...... project tries to respond to the question "How to ensure a secure operation of the future power system where the operating point is heavily is fluctuating?" focusing in the Supervision module architecture and in the power system operation states. The main goal of Supervision module is to determine...... the power system operation state based on new stability and security parameters derived from PMUs measurement and coordinate the use of automatic and manual control actions. The coordination of the control action is based not only in the static indicators but also in the performance evaluation of control...

Towards sustainable urban water governance in Denmark: collective building of capabilities in local authorities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Marina Bergen

2016-01-01

be achieved. The ‘urban water platform’ was tested and is hereby presented as a course concept for building collective capabilities for integrated sustainable water design among local authorities in Denmark. The course is an innovation because: 1) it invites urban planners, road and park managers and sewage...

Analyse that! : understanding sustainable design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brand, van den G.J.W.; Wit, de M.H.

2004-01-01

This paper describes a method for the analysis of sustainable building projects. Sustainable technology measures can easily be misinterpreted, consequently leading to unsustainable building solutions. Our research and educations aims at discovering new approaches for sustainable design. For building

A comprehensive framework to quantify energy savings potential from improved operations of commercial building stocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azar, Elie; Menassa, Carol C.

2014-01-01

While studies highlight the significant impact of actions performed by occupants and facility managers on building energy performance, current policies ignore the importance of human actions and the potential energy savings from a more efficient operation of building systems. This is mainly attributed to the lack of methods that evaluate non-technological drivers of energy use for large stocks of commercial buildings to support policy making efforts. Therefore, this study proposes a scientific approach to quantifying the energy savings potential due to improved operations of any stock of commercial buildings. The proposed framework combines energy modeling techniques, studies on human actions in buildings, and surveying and sampling methods. The contributions of this study to energy policy are significant as they reinforce the role of human actions in energy conservation, and support efforts to integrate operation-focused solutions in energy conservation policy frameworks. The framework's capabilities are illustrated in a case study performed on the stock of office buildings in the United States (US). Results indicate a potential 21 percent reduction in the current energy use levels of these buildings through realistic changes in current building operation patterns. - Highlights: • Human actions highly influence energy performance of commercial building stocks. • It is challenging to quantify operation-related energy savings potential. • The proposed framework quantifies potential energy savings from improved operations. • The framework can be applied on any stock of commercial buildings. • Applications include support for operation-focused solutions in energy policies

Collaborative procurement for developing a sustainable campus

Science.gov (United States)

Nifa, Faizatul Akmar Abdul; Rahim, Syukran Abdul; Rani, Wan Nurul Mardiah Wan Mohd; Ismail, Mohd. Noorizhar

2016-08-01

It is particularly challenging to achieve sustainability in campus universities, where a high volume of users and activities has made it more imperative to promote green buildings that reduce energy and water consumption while having a minimal carbon footprint. At present, the frameworks for sustainable campus have seldom focused on the project procurement method which would improve construction team integration in developing the physical aspect of campus development. Therefore, in response to that challenge, this paper investigates how the delivery team, responsible for the design and construction of a project, can be integrated to work together more efficiently and more using the collaborative procurement method known as partnering. This paper reports part of a previous research and sets the base for ongoing research on the critical factors in partnering for sustainable campus development. The outcome or result of this study will meet and support the requirement for construction, maintenance, and operation process for universities towards sustainable building/campus in the future.

Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBIE)

Science.gov (United States)

2007-06-01

Swalley U.S. Department of State, Overseas Buildings Operations Toby Wilson U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Engineer R&D Center Jeff Wix AEC3 The...exchanged in COBIE. To map those information exchanges to the IFC model, the Information Delivery Manual (IDM) process [ Wix 2007] was also used. The...Folksonomy. Wikimedia Foundation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy/, accessed 3 August 2007. Wix , Jeffrey. 2007. Information Delivery Manual

Using Life Cycle Assessment to Inform Decision-Making for Sustainable Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mieke Vandenbroucke

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Because the student residences of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel built in 1973 are not adapted to current comfort standards, the university decided to construct new accommodation facilities at the border of the campus. However, besides demolition, there was no strategy on how to deal with the existing ones. In the search for a more sustainable strategy, the university’s administration assigned the TRANSFORM research team to define various design strategies and to assess the long-term environmental consequences in order to select the best strategy by the use of Life Cycle Environmental Assessment. Current Life Cycle Environmental Assessments generally include maintenance, repair, replacement and operational energy consumption during use, but do not include future refurbishments. However, it is likely that their impact cannot be neglected either. Therefore, this article offers a framework which takes future refurbishments into account, in addition to the standard use impacts: initial and end-of-life impact. We report on the construction assemblies, the results of the assessments conducted and the advice provided. The results confirm that the impact of future refurbishments cannot be neglected. In addition, we observed that there were significant environmental savings when transforming the residences compared to new construction, and long-term benefits of a design enabling the reuse of building elements.

Building Performance Simulation for Sustainable Energy Use in Buildings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hensen, J.L.M.

2010-01-01

This paper aims to provide a general view of the background and current state of building performance simulation, which has the potential to deliver, directly or indirectly, substantial benefits to building stakeholders and to the environment. However the building simulation community faces many

Sustaining Operational Resiliency: A Process Improvement Approach to Security Management

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Caralli, Richard A

2006-01-01

.... Coordinating these efforts to sustain operational resiliency requires a process-oriented approach that can be defined, measured, and actively managed. This report describes the fundamental elements and benefits of a process approach to security and operational resiliency and provides a notional view of a framework for process improvement.

On the application of multi-agent systems in buildings for improved building operations, performance and smart grid interaction : a survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Labeodan, T.M.; Aduda, K.O.; Boxem, G.; Zeiler, W.

2015-01-01

Toward efforts to improve sustainability of energy supply and to achieve worthwhile reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to the increased use of renewable energy sources in buildings, more emphasis is being placed on the need for improved control, management and coordination of

VTT Digitalo. A case study from the view points of sustainable building and modern working environment; VTT Digitalo. Tavoitteena kestaevae rakennus ja moderni tyoeympaeristoe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haekkinen, T.; Nuutinen, M.; Pulakka, S.; Porkka, J.; Vares, S.; Laitinen, A.; Vesikari, E.; Pajari, M.

2007-01-15

This publication summarises the assessment results from the VTT Digitalo case. VTT Digitalo is a new office building built for the use of VTT research and development. The building was assessed from the viewpoints of sustainable construction and sustainable workspaces. The study analysed the case considering it as an achievement and a stage in a long-term process that is taking place between VTT as the user and Senate Properties as the owner of the building. This process aims at developing high-quality facility services, which are in accordance with the user needs, and based on understanding the strategic goals of the user. Additionally, these services should follow the principles of sustainable construction. The VTT's user needs concern first of all (a) good indoor environment in terms of indoor climate, acoustics and illumination, (b) ability of the workspace to support interaction and innovative way of working, (c) ability of the whole building to indicate VTT's image as a supplier of innovation services. VTT acts as a client, which sets performance and conformity requirements based on the planned use of spaces. The aims of Senate Properties as the owner and the provider of facility services concern the ability to understand and realise user needs, and to manage investment costs and life cycle efficiency of the building. The research defines sustainable construction in accordance with (ISO 2006): Sustainable construction brings about the required performance with the least unfavourable environmental impact, while encouraging economic, social, and cultural improvement at a local, regional, and global level. Accordingly, the study defined as a premise that a comprehensive analysis of the sustainability of an office building should be based on the assessment of the following aspects: user satisfaction, building performance and environmental impacts, and life cycle costs and life cycle economy. (orig.)

Greenhouse gases emission assessment in residential sector through buildings simulations and operation optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stojiljković, Mirko M.; Ignjatović, Marko G.; Vučković, Goran D.

2015-01-01

Buildings use a significant amount of primary energy and largely contribute to greenhouse gases emission. Cost optimality and cost effectiveness, including cost-optimal operation, are important for the adoption of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. The long-term assessment of buildings-related greenhouse gases emission might take into account cost-optimal operation of their energy systems. This is often not the case in the literature. Long-term operation optimization problems are often of large scale and computationally intensive and time consuming. This paper formulates a bottom-up methodology relying on an efficient, but precise operation optimization approach, applicable to long-term problems and use with buildings simulations. We suggest moving-horizon short-term optimization to determine near-optimal operation modes and show that this approach, applied to flexible energy systems without seasonal storage, have satisfactory efficiency and accuracy compared with solving problem for an entire year. We also confirm it as a valuable pre-solve technique. Approach applicability and the importance of energy systems optimization are illustrated with a case study considering buildings envelope improvements and cogeneration and heat storage implementation in an urban residential settlement. EnergyPlus is used for buildings simulations while mixed integer linear programming optimization problems are constructed and solved using the custom-built software and the branch-and-cut solver Gurobi Optimizer. - Highlights: • Bottom-up approach for greenhouse gases emission assessment is presented. • Short-term moving-horizon optimization is used to define operation regimes. • Operation optimization and buildings simulations are connected with modeling tool. • Illustrated optimization method performed efficiently and gave accurate results.

Sustainable refurbishment of exterior walls and building facades. Final report, Part A - Methods and recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hakkinen, T. (ed.)

2012-11-01

This report is the final report of Sustainable refurbishment of building facades and exterior walls (SUSREF). SUSREF project was a collaborative (small/medium size) research project within the 7th Framework Programme of the Commission and it was financed under the theme Environment (including climate change) (Grant agreement no. 226858). The project started in October 1st 2009 and ended in April 30th 2012. The project included 11 partners from five countries. SUSREF developed sustainable concepts and technologies for the refurbishment of building facades and external walls. This report together with SUSREF Final report Part B and SUSREF Final Report Part C introduce the main results of the project. Part A focuses on methodological issues. The descriptions of the concepts and the assessment results of the developed concepts are presented in SUSREF Final report part B (generic concepts) and SUSREF Final report Part C (SME concepts). (orig.)

Contractor Development Models for Promoting Sustainable Building – a case for developing management capabilities of contractors

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Dlungwana, Wilkin S

2004-11-01

Full Text Available Construction industry and indeed all small and medium-sized contractors play a significant socio-economic role in the developing countries. This paper highlights the importance of promoting sustainable building through the implementation...

Sustainability of Biomass Utilisation in Changing operational Environment - SUBICHOE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soimakallio, S.; Hongisto, M.; Koponen, K. (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland)), e-mail: sampo.soimakallio@vtt.fi (and others)

2011-11-15

Sustainability is a multi-faceted and challenging target, but at the same time a crucial issue to assess when setting policies and targets for the future. The main objective of the SUBICHOE project is to assist public administration and companies in strategic decision- making in the most sustainable use of biomass, by taking into account the changing operational environment. The project aimed to assess how the sustainability criteria, in particular those set by the EC, ensure the sustainability of biofuels from short and long term perspectives. The project is carried out jointly by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) and The Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT). The work plan of the project is divided into four Work Packages. In this article, a summary of main findings of the project is presented. (orig.)

A Fatigue Management System for Sustained Military Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2008-03-31

Medications in Sustained Operations – Storm et al. DRAFT anxiolytic, myorelaxant, and anticonvulsant properties, and...sedation in pediatric anesthesia (Scheepers, Montgomery, Kinahan, et al., 2000). Submucosal administration was compared to intravenous administration...Arheart KL, & Mandrell TD (2000). Comparative pharmacokinetics of submucosal vs. intravenous flumazenil (Romazicon) in an animal model. Pediatr

Learning to build a sustainable peace:

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amélie Gauthier

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The debate on local ownership in peacebuilding policies is relatively recent, inherited from the reflection on aid efficiency and sustainability. When focusing on its application at the field level, like in the Haitian case, it becomes evident that its inclusion in the peacebuilding doctrine of all major donors has not had a correspondence at the strategic and operative levels. This article is the result of a research in the field on how the concept of “local ownership” in peacebuilding efforts is put into practice and perceived by different stakeholders. The authors focused on the on-going Justice reform in Haiti before the Earthquake of January 2010 to better understand the dynamics between international and local actors, from the policy definition stage to their application at the country level.

Assessing and Developing the Application of LEED Green Building Rating System as a Sustainable Project Management and Market Tool in the Italian Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walaa S. E. Ismaee

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the recent introduction of the LEED system to the Italian context in order to assess its role to promote sustainable building process in the Italian context, pointing out its potentials on one hand as well as their gaps and limitations on the other hand, and suggests means for its future development. The study discusses the application of LEED as a ‘Sustainable Project management tool’ to guide sustainable building performance. This requires investigating the following: its structure, tools, assessment criteria along with its benchmarks and references. It also discusses the application of LEED as a ‘Sustainable building Certification and market tool’. This investigates the role and value of the LEED certification in the Italian Green market. The research method is comprised of three parts. The first part is a comparative analysis of LEED categories against Italian national initiatives for sustainability. The comparison showed that most LEED categories are already mandated by national norms and directives but they may differ in their stringency creating some areas of precedence of LEED system or drawbacks. This streamlines the adaptation process of LEED system to the Italian context. The second part investigates LEED projects’ market analysis. The result showed that the shift towards a sustainable building process is occurring slowly and on a vertical scale focusing on some building sectors rather than others. Its market diffusion in the Italian context faces challenges regarding the insufficient availability of green materials and products satisfying its requirements, as well as high soft cost of sustainability tests and expertise required. The Third part presents a practical review-citing the methodology and results of a survey conducted by the researchers in mid-2012. It is composed of a web-based questionnaire and interviews among a sample of LEED professionals in Italy. The result shows that LEED systems needs

Energy and sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunner, D.

2001-01-01

This article describes the further education concepts of the Swiss Federal Government and the Swiss Cantons in the energy area with particular emphasis on post-graduate courses on energy and sustainability in building and civil engineering. The activities of a working group on further education in these areas and the basic objectives of the concepts in the planning, implementation and operational areas are discussed. The courses offered by various Swiss technical colleges in the building and energy areas are examined and experience gained within the framework of the Swiss 'Energy 2000' programme is discussed. Finally, the Penta Project on renewable energy sources, set up jointly by the SwissEnergy programme and various professional associations to provide further education and training for target audiences in the energy and building technical services areas, is looked at

Pinenes: Abundant and Renewable Building Blocks for a Variety of Sustainable Polymers.

Science.gov (United States)

Winnacker, Malte

2018-05-14

Pinenes - a group of monoterpenes containing a double bond - are very suitable renewable building blocks for a variety of sustainable polymers and materials. Their abundance from mainly non-edible parts of plants as well as the feasibility to isolate them render these compounds unique amongst the variety of biomass that is utilizable for novel materials. Accordingly, their use for the synthesis of biobased polymers has been investigated intensively, and strong progress has been made with this especially within the past 2-3 years. Direct cationic or radical polymerization via the double bonds as well as polymerization upon their further functionalization can afford a variety of sustainable polymers suitable for many applications, which is summarized in this article. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Investments to Meet the Guiding Principles for High-Performance Sustainable Buildings on the PNNL Campus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cort, Katherine A.; Judd, Kathleen S.

2014-08-29

As part its campus sustainability efforts, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has invested in eight new and existing buildings to ensure they meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s requirements for high performance sustainable buildings (HPSB) at DOE sites. These investments are expected to benefit PNNL by reducing the total life-cycle cost of facilities, improving energy efficiency and water conservation, and making buildings safer and healthier for the occupants. This study examines the cost-effectiveness of the implementing measures that meet the criteria for HPSBs in 3 different types of buildings on the PNNL campus: offices, scientific laboratories, and data centers. In each of the three case studies examined the investments made to achieve HPSB status demonstrated a high return on the HPSB investments that have taken place in these varied environments. Simple paybacks for total investments in the three case study buildings ranged from just 2 to 5 years; savings-to-investment ratios all exceeded the desirable threshold of 1; and the net present values associated with these investments were all positive.

Building capacity for sustainable research programmes for cancer in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Adewole, Isaac; Martin, Damali N; Williams, Makeda J; Adebamowo, Clement; Bhatia, Kishor; Berling, Christine; Casper, Corey; Elshamy, Karima; Elzawawy, Ahmed; Lawlor, Rita T; Legood, Rosa; Mbulaiteye, Sam M; Odedina, Folakemi T; Olopade, Olufunmilayo I; Olopade, Christopher O; Parkin, Donald M; Rebbeck, Timothy R; Ross, Hana; Santini, Luiz A; Torode, Julie; Trimble, Edward L; Wild, Christopher P; Young, Annie M; Kerr, David J

2014-05-01

Cancer research in Africa will have a pivotal role in cancer control planning in this continent. However, environments (such as those in academic or clinical settings) with limited research infrastructure (laboratories, biorespositories, databases) coupled with inadequate funding and other resources have hampered African scientists from carrying out rigorous research. In September 2012, over 100 scientists with expertise in cancer research in Africa met in London to discuss the challenges in performing high-quality research, and to formulate the next steps for building sustainable, comprehensive and multi-disciplinary programmes relevant to Africa. This was the first meeting among five major organizations: the African Organisation for Research and Training in Africa (AORTIC), the Africa Oxford Cancer Foundation (AfrOx), and the National Cancer Institutes (NCI) of Brazil, France and the USA. This article summarizes the discussions and recommendations of this meeting, including the next steps required to create sustainable and impactful research programmes that will enable evidenced-based cancer control approaches and planning at the local, regional and national levels.

Investigation of Sustainable Housing Criteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

roshanfekr Somayeh

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, much attention has been paid to sustainable development in cities. The quality of human life is directly related to environmental quality. Because many people live in cities as a place of social, economic and cultural relationships, certain issues such as environmental crises, energy, air and noise pollution and traffic jams are some of the factors that can alter the quality of human life. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of human life, attention to sustainable development (or sustainability in cities is proposed. Sustainable building has a comprehensive significance that begins with the conception of negative and positive impacts on the environment. Several descriptions of sustainable or green buildings have been created; however, they all pursue one goal, which is to create sustainable urban developments and protection of the environment. The quality of indoor environments, materials, and energy consumption, water usage, the impact of building construction processes and building maintenance are some of the factors that affect the environment and sustainability. Sustainable building is an attempt to relieve the minus impacts on the environment that occur during a building’s lifetime. This research investigates the important factors that have relevance to green buildings and introduces several criteria of sustainable housing.

The Macuti House, Traditional Building Techniques and Sustainable Development in Ilha de Moçambique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sollien, Silje Erøy

2011-01-01

reflect a sustainable return to the art of building. Implied is that preservation of this way of building may have a value in the form of strengthening cultural identity and possible environmental and socio-economic advantages. However, in order to overcome negative associations with colonial...... subordination, poverty and low social status, such initiatives need to be part of a wider programme of strengthening cultural and social capital among the population, avoiding division into tangible and intangible heritage management, and include broad ecological and socio-economic considerations....

From a Systematic Literature Review to a Classification Framework: Sustainability Integration in Fashion Operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakan Karaosman

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainability management in global fashion operations is an area of growing concern. This can be seen by the number of research articles and industrial reports published. To establish a further debate, this study pursues two objectives. Firstly, it provides a systematic literature review pertaining to environmental and social sustainability management in fashion operations by encompassing 38 research articles indexed in Scopus from 2006 to 2016. Secondly, it presents a classification framework in which sustainability practices are categorized according to a three-dimensional concurrent engineering framework by focusing on product, process and supply chain levels. Results address that the breakdown of environmental and social sustainability practices identified in earlier research is not homogenous. For instance, some critical social aspects such as human rights are not widely covered in production processes. Similarly, serious environmental aspects such as biodiversity are not entirely focused on at the chain level. Last, this study concludes with a framework illustrating strategic priorities to be taken to advance sustainability in fashion operations.

Net-Centric Sustainment and Operational Reach on the Modern Battlefield

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-17

Halliday, Marc L. Robbins , and Kenneth J. Girardini. "Sustainment of Army Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom: Battlefield Logistics and Effects on Operations... Robbins , Kenneth J. Girardini, Rick Eden, John M. Halliday, and Jeffrey Angers. "Operation Iraqi Freedom: Major Findings and Recommendations...Timothy P. Williams, Tony R. Sherrill, Amy R. McGrath, Morris G. Hayes, Antoniette C. McGrady, and John M. Sheckler. "Logistics Command and Control

Sustainability of biomass utilisation in changing operational environment - SUBICHOE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soimakallio, S. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland)], email: sampo.soimakallio@vtt.fi

2012-07-01

The main objective of the project was to assist in strategic decision-making of public administration and companies, as regards the most sustainable use of biomass, by taking into account the changing operational environment. This project continued the work of the BIOVAIKU project by exploring in more details the most critical issues identified in sustainability assessment. These include the need to develop assessment methods and criteria in particular for land use and land-use change due to biomass cultivation and harvesting and indirect impacts due to resource competition.

Researching for sustained translation from site cluster permeability into building courtyard and interior atrium

Science.gov (United States)

Teddy Badai Samodra, FX; Defiana, Ima; Setyawan, Wahyu

2018-03-01

Many previous types of research have discussed the permeability of site cluster. Because of interaction and interconnected attribute, it will be better that there is its translation into lower context such as building and interior scale. In this paper, the sustainability design performance of both similar designs of courtyard and atrium are investigated continuing the recommendation of site space permeability. By researching related literature review and study through Ecotect Analysis and Ansys Fluent simulations, the pattern transformation and optimum courtyard and atrium design could comply the requirement. The results highlighted that the air movement from the site could be translated at the minimum of 50% higher to the building and indoor environment. Thus, it has potency for energy efficiency when grid, loop, and cul-de-sac site clusters, with 25% of ground coverage, have connectivity with building courtyard compared to the atrium. Energy saving is higher when using low thermal transmittance of transparent material and its lower area percentages for the courtyard walls. In general, it was more energy efficient option as part of a low rise building, while the courtyard building performed better with increasing irregular building height more than 90% of the difference.

Transferring Knowledge from Building Operation to Design: A literature review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Helle Lohmann; Jensen, Per Anker; Gregg, Jay Sterling

. Knowing that the list lacks inputs from cultural and organizational theory, the paper suggests that further research should focus on taking these suggestions to an operational level for the benefit of FM, building clients and design teams. Furthermore, it is found that major concepts that could......As a solution to the previously identified gap between expected and actual building performance, this paper investigates how knowledge can be transferred from operation to design. This is assumed to help bridge the gap and increase the performance of new built facilities. By conducting a systematic...... literature review, it is found, that the theoretical approach in the reviewed articles has a significant impact on the level of how applicable the recommendations are in practice. Furthermore, a list of identified tools to enable knowledge transfer is provided, including POE, PPP and building commissioning...

Alkali-Activated Mortars for Sustainable Building Solutions: Effect of Binder Composition on Technical Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnese Attanasio

2018-02-01

Full Text Available There is a growing interest in the construction sector in the use of sustainable binders as an alternative to ordinary Portland cement, the production of which is highly impacting on the environment, due to high carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption. Alkali-activated binders, especially those resulting from low-cost industrial by-products, such as coal fly ash or metallurgical slag, represent a sustainable option for cement replacement, though their use is more challenging, due to some technological issues related to workability or curing conditions. This paper presents sustainable alkali-activated mortars cured in room conditions and based on metakaolin, fly ash, and furnace slag (both by-products resulting from local sources and relevant blends, aiming at their real scale application in the building sector. The effect of binder composition—gradually adjusted taking into consideration technical and environmental aspects (use of industrial by-products in place of natural materials in the view of resources saving—on the performance (workability, compressive strength of different mortar formulations, is discussed in detail. Some guidelines for the design of cement-free binders are given, taking into consideration the effect of each investigated alumino-silicate component. The technical feasibility to produce the mortars with standard procedures and equipment, the curing in room conditions, the promising results achieved in terms of workability and mechanical performance (from 20.0 MPa up to 52.0 MPa, confirm the potential of such materials for practical applications (masonry mortars of class M20 and Md. The cement-free binders resulting from this study can be used as reference for the development of mortars and concrete formulations for sustainable building materials production.

Strengthening Radiation Protection Infrastructures in Africa: Towards Establishing Effective and Sustainable Co-operations and Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-09-01

The third African IRPA 2010 conference on Strengthening Radiation Protection Infrastructures in Africa: Towards Establishing Effective and Sustainable Co-operations and Networks. IAEA's role in radiation protection with focus in Africa. The controlling of exposure to indoor Radon. And Measure of activities and calculation of effective dose of indoor 222 Rn in some dwelling and enclosed areas in Africa - capacity building for radiation protection. It had also address Patient Radiation Protection in Radiotherapy, challenges for advancing medical physic globally, Heath effects and medical applications of non-ionizing radiation, nuclear safety and radiation protection consideration in the design of research and development. The International radiation protection association (IRPA) 2010-2011 strategic plan that address among other issues educations and training activities (2000-2020) and the current UNSCLEAR activities

DTU says yes to operational friendly buildings but how should it be done in practice?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Helle Lohmann; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Møller, Anders B.

2014-01-01

Facilities managers often fight to be allowed to contribute their operational experiences to new building projects, but not at Campus Service of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where “ask the operations manager” has become a mantra for every building project in recent years, and there ......, and there are currently 15 building projects under way. But how is this knowledge transfer organized in practice so that both the buildings department and the operations department maintain a good and effective relationship?...

Lean waste classification model to support the sustainable operational practice

Science.gov (United States)

Sutrisno, A.; Vanany, I.; Gunawan, I.; Asjad, M.

2018-04-01

Driven by growing pressure for a more sustainable operational practice, improvement on the classification of non-value added (waste) is one of the prerequisites to realize sustainability of a firm. While the use of the 7 (seven) types of the Ohno model now becoming a versatile tool to reveal the lean waste occurrence. In many recent investigations, the use of the Seven Waste model of Ohno is insufficient to cope with the types of waste occurred in industrial practices at various application levels. Intended to a narrowing down this limitation, this paper presented an improved waste classification model based on survey to recent studies discussing on waste at various operational stages. Implications on the waste classification model to the body of knowledge and industrial practices are provided.

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS as a methodical approach to the development of design strategies for environmentally sustainable buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Hanne Tine Ring

. The research methodology applied in the project combines a literature study of descriptions of methodical approaches and built examples with a sensitivity analysis and a qualitative interview with two designers from a best practice example of a practice that has achieved environmentally sustainable...... architecture, such as: ecological, green, bio-climatic, sustainable, passive, low-energy and environmental architecture. This PhD project sets out to gain a better understanding of environmentally sustainable architecture and the methodical approaches applied in the development of this type of architecture...... an increase in scientific and political awareness, which has lead to an escalation in the number of research publications in the field, as well as, legislative demands for the energy consumption of buildings. The publications in the field refer to many different approaches to environmentally sustainable...

The ideal usage of sustainable materials and local resources of the interior space design in Jordan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fahmi Hussien, Mayyadah [Department of Interior Design, Faculty of Architect and Art, Petra University (Jordan)], Email: Mayada19732004@yahoo.com

2011-07-01

A large amount of waste is generated by buildings over their life cycle, from construction and operation to destruction. Sustainable design principles and recycling programs in buildings can help moderate this waste. The simplest way is directly through the materials used in the building's construction. The materials and resources used should focus on the health and productivity consequences for the building's inhabitants and its environmental, social and economic impacts. This aim of this study is to make certain recommendations with respect to the use of sustainable building materials and resources in indoor spaces in Jordan. A general overview of collection and storage of recyclable materials, waste management, material reuse, and green and rapidly renewable materials is given. Sustainable material usage in the elements of interior design in Jordan is also discussed in two case studies. A set of indicators is proposed which identify the ideal sustainable materials and resources for use in interior design in Jordan to provide a healthy living environment.

CUTTING THE CORD: SUSTAINING UNTETHERED AIR SUPERIORITY OPERATIONS IN THE PACIFIC

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

AU/ACSC/2016 AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE AIR UNIVERSITY CUTTING THE CORD: SUSTAINING UNTETHERED AIR SUPERIORITY OPERATIONS IN THE PACIFIC...advanced their weapons systems may be. Since the end of the Cold War, the USAF has generated sorties from main operating bases ( MOB ) in support of...Operations Desert Storm, Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. MOBs in rear sanctuaries allow aircraft to operate safely from enemy attack

Task-Oriented and Relationship-Building Communications between Air Traffic Controllers and Pilots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inwon Kang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available By questioning the lopsided attention on task-oriented factors in air traffic controller-pilot communication, the current study places an equal weighting on both task-oriented and relationship-building communications, and investigates how each type of communication influences sustainable performance in airline operation team. Results show that both task-oriented and relationship-building communications in terms of sustainability of team process predicted greater communication satisfaction at work. Also, both task interdependence and shared leadership influenced both types of air traffic controller-pilot communication. However, only relationship-building communication had a direct influence on perceived work performance whereas task-oriented communication had not. Along with task-oriented factors, this study raises the relationship-oriented factors as important resources for the sustainable team performance in airline industry.

Sustainable refurbishment of exterior walls and building facades. Final report, Part B - General refurbishment concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vares, S.; Pulakka, S.; Toratti, T. [and others

2012-11-01

This report is the second part of the final report of Sustainable refurbishment of building facades and exterior walls (SUSREF). SUSREF project was a collaborative (small/medium size) research project within the 7th Framework Programme of the Commission and it was financed under the theme Environment (including climate change) (Grant agreement no. 226858). The project started in October 1st 2009 and ended in April 30th 2012. The project included 11 partners from five countries. SUSREF developed sustainable concepts and technologies for the refurbishment of building facades and external walls. This report together with SUSREF Final report Part B and SUSREF Final Report Part C introduce the main results of the project. Part A focuses on methodological issues. The descriptions of the concepts and the assessment results of the developed concepts are presented in SUSREF Final report part B (generic concepts) and SUSREF Final report Part C (SME concepts). The following list shows the sustainability assessment criteria defined by the SUSREF project. These are Durability; Impact on energy demand for heating; Impact on energy demand for cooling; Impact on renewable energy use potential; Impact on daylight; Environmental impact of manufacture and maintenance; Indoor air quality and acoustics; Structural stability; Fire safety; Aesthetic quality; Effect on cultural heritage; Life cycle costs; Need for care and maintenance; Disturbance to the tenants and to the site; Buildability. This report presents sustainability assessment results of general refurbishment concepts and gives recommendations on the basis of the results. The report covers the following refurbishment cases - External insulation - Internal insulation - Cavity wall insulation - Replacement Insulation during renovation.

Power grid operation risk management: V2G deployment for sustainable development

Science.gov (United States)

Haddadian, Ghazale J.

The production, transmission, and delivery of cost--efficient energy to supply ever-increasing peak loads along with a quest for developing a low-carbon economy require significant evolutions in the power grid operations. Lower prices of vast natural gas resources in the United States, Fukushima nuclear disaster, higher and more intense energy consumptions in China and India, issues related to energy security, and recent Middle East conflicts, have urged decisions makers throughout the world to look into other means of generating electricity locally. As the world look to combat climate changes, a shift from carbon-based fuels to non-carbon based fuels is inevitable. However, the variability of distributed generation assets in the electricity grid has introduced major reliability challenges for power grid operators. While spearheading sustainable and reliable power grid operations, this dissertation develops a multi-stakeholder approach to power grid operation design; aiming to address economic, security, and environmental challenges of the constrained electricity generation. It investigates the role of Electric Vehicle (EV) fleets integration, as distributed and mobile storage assets to support high penetrations of renewable energy sources, in the power grid. The vehicle-to-grid (V2G) concept is considered to demonstrate the bidirectional role of EV fleets both as a provider and consumer of energy in securing a sustainable power grid operation. The proposed optimization modeling is the application of Mixed-Integer Linear Programing (MILP) to large-scale systems to solve the hourly security-constrained unit commitment (SCUC) -- an optimal scheduling concept in the economic operation of electric power systems. The Monte Carlo scenario-based approach is utilized to evaluate different scenarios concerning the uncertainties in the operation of power grid system. Further, in order to expedite the real-time solution of the proposed approach for large-scale power systems

Guidelines for sustainable building design: Recommendations from the Presidio of San Francisco energy efficiency design charrette

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, K.; Sartor, D.; Greenberg, S. [and others

1996-05-01

In 1994, the Bay Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers{reg_sign} organized a two-day design charrette for energy-efficient redevelopment of buildings by the National Park Services (NPS) at the Presidio of San Francisco. This event brought together engineers, researchers, architects, government officials, and students in a participatory environment to apply their experience to create guidelines for the sustainable redesign of Presidio buildings. The venue for the charrette was a representative barracks building located at the Main Post of the Presidio. Examination of this building allowed for the development of design recommendations, both for the building and for the remainder of the facilities. The charrette was organized into a committee structure consisting of: steering, measurement and monitoring, modeling, building envelope and historic preservation (architectural), HVAC and controls, lighting, and presentation. Prior to the charrette itself, the modeling and measurement/monitoring committees developed substantial baseline data for the other committees during the charrette. An integrated design approach was initiated through interaction between the committees during the charrette. Later, committee reports were cross-referenced to emphasize whole building design and systems integration.

Sustainable operations management and benchmarking in brewing: A factor weighting approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel P. Bumblauskas

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The brewing industry has been moving towards more efficient use of energy, water reuse and stewardship, and the tracking of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions to better manage environmental and social responsibility. Commercial breweries use a great deal of water and energy to convert one gallon (liter of water into one gallon (liter of beer. An analysis was conducted on sustainable operations and supply chain management at various United States and international breweries, specifically Europe, to benchmark brewery performance and establish common metrics for sustainability in the beer supply chain. The primary research questions explored in this article are whether water reclamation and GHG emissions can be properly monitored and measured and if processes can be created to help control waste (lean and emissions. Additional questions include how we can use operations management strategies and techniques such as the Factor-Weighted Method (FWM in industries such as brewing to develop sustainability scorecards.

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 SUFFICIENCY OF THE BEARING CAPACITY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF OPERATING SITES OF MAIN BUILDINGS OF THERMAL POWER PLANTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alekseeva Ekaterina Leonidovna

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Upon examination of eleven main buildings of power plants, analysis of defects and damages of building structures was performed. Thereafter, the damageability of principal bearing structures of main buildings of thermal plants was analyzed. It was identified that the fastest growing defects and damages were concentrated in the structures of operating sites. The research of the rate of development of the most frequent damages and defects made it possible to conclude that internal corrosion of the reinforcing steel was the most dangerous defect, as far as the reinforced concrete elements of operating sites were concerned. Methods of mathematical statistics were applied to identify the reinforcing steel development pattern inside reinforced concrete elements of floors of operating sites. It was identified that the probability of corrosion of reinforced concrete elements of operating sites was distributed in accordance with the demonstrative law. Based on these data, calculation of strength of reinforced concrete slabs and metal beams was performed in terms of their regular sections, given the natural loads and the realistic condition of structures. As a result, dependence between the bearing capacity reserve ratio and the corrosion development pattern was identified for reinforced concrete slabs and metal beams of operating sites. In order to analyze the sufficiency of the bearing capacity of building structures of operating sites in relation to their time in commission, equations were derived to identify the nature of dependence between the sufficiency of the bearing capacity of reinforced concrete slabs and metal beams of the operating sites and their time in commission.

Thinking in Three Dimensions: Leadership for Capacity Building, Sustainability, and Succession

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne-Jimenez, Monica; Orr, Margaret Terry

2012-01-01

Urban schools often experience rapid turnover among teachers and leaders. Yet, research and practice highlight the importance of sustained leadership over time as an integral component of school improvement. Successful leadership requires principals who operate in multiple dimensions at once, moving from individual capacity to group empowerment,…

Competitively Distinct Operations as a Key for Superior and Sustainable Business Performance: An Example from Walmart

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Binod Timilsina

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Existing research on the resource-based view (RBV has provided limited evidence on how firms achieve superior and sustainable business performance; this failure is because current literature de-emphasizes the importance of operations. This paper argues that to gain and sustain superior business performance, a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage is not enough, its operations also needs to be competitively distinct. Therefore, through unifying the necessary conditions of superior and sustainable business performance the paper presents a better understanding of the RBV. The success story of Walmart, from existing literature, is considered as an example to support the proposed framework. The paper concludes that the cost of operations, opportunity cost, cost of resources and possible output are the crucial factors in resource choice and operations decision to secure competitively distinct operations. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications, research limitations and future research possibilities are discussed.

Hard Hats, Octopuses and Rubber Boots- Operational Managers in Building Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Christian

2004-01-01

This paper discusses Operation management (OM) in the production of buildings. It is initially contended that OM needs to be improved, from a theoretical and practical perspective. Departing from a criticism of present modeling and management of processes it is suggested to develop an understanding...... of the steps and interdependencies in the process. The field study shows a vast amount of interruptions in operational managers work at the building site. The site managers studied typically worked with four main activities and were interrupted some 126 times during a workday. The prime reason...

Synergy between building rating systems and design methodology for intellingent and green buildings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeiler, W.; Boxem, G.; Plesser, S.

2008-01-01

There is a strong need for more efficient and more sustainable buildings. At present it is difficult to define the performance of buildings in an objective way to efficiency and sustainability. Goal of this project is to examine and to understand differences between different building rating systems

Operational Planning of Low-Energy District Heating Systems Connected to Existing Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tol, Hakan; Svendsen, Svend

2012-01-01

. The response of the radiator heating systems at different levels of supply temperature was used to form the operational planning of the low-energy DH system, which determined the design parameters of the low-energy DH network in terms of overall mass flow requirement and the return temperature from...... the buildings. Since the existing buildings were considered to be renovated to low-energy class, the operational planning was simultaneously modelled for both present high-demand and future low-demand situations of the same case area.......This article focuses on low-energy District Heating (DH) systems operating in low-temperatures such as 55°C in terms of supply and 25°C in terms of return in connection with existing buildings. Since the heat loss from the network has a significant impact in case of supplying heat to low...

Sustainable architecture by example of the project for a corner building between the streets Kralja Milana and Kralja Milutina in Belgrade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marić Igor

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Technology development for civil engineering and the application of new and improved materials become ever more present in realization of any kind of construction, starting from buildings for housing, business, as well as for the multifunctional and specialized ones. Sustainable architecture presumes environmental considerations, then the use of passive solar systems protection from the adverse conditions of climate, noise, micro location. This paper presents some of the sustainable architecture principles by example of the project for a corner building between the streets Kralja Milana and Kralja Milutina in Belgrade.

Development and analysis of sustainable energy systems for building HVAC applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalid, F.; Dincer, I.; Rosen, M.A.

2015-01-01

The main HVAC applications considered in this paper are heating and cooling. Three newly developed systems for heating and cooling applications in buildings are proposed and assessed. Energy and exergy analyses are performed to assess the performance of heating, cooling and overall systems for each case, and the effects of various parameters on the energy and exergy efficiencies are examined. Also, the effect of changing the energy input for each system is also found in terms of overall efficiency. The overall system energy efficiency is found to be highest for the natural gas operated system with a vapour absorption chiller (system 1) at 27.5% and lowest for the photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal operated system with vapour compression chiller (system 3) at 19.9%. The overall system exergy efficiency is found to be highest for the PV and solar thermal operated system with vapour compression chiller (system 3) at 3.9% and lowest for the PV and solar thermal operated system with heat pump (system 2) at 1.2%, respectively. - Highlights: • Three HVAC systems for buildings using renewable energy sources are proposed and assessed. • A performance improvement study is undertaken. • Parametric studies are carried out to determine the effects of various parameters on energy and exergy efficiencies

Developing the Potential for Sustainable Improvement in Underperforming Schools: Capacity Building in the Socio-Cultural Dimension

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Jeffrey V.; Ylimaki, Rose M.; Dugan, Thad M.; Brunderman, Lynnette A.

2014-01-01

This mixed-method study examines Arizona principals' capacity-building skills and practices in Tier III schools aimed at developing potential for sustained improvements in student outcomes. Data sources included surveys (62 individuals) and semistructured interviews (29 individuals) of principals and staff (e.g. teachers, instructional coaches,…

Use of industrial waste for the manufacturing of sustainable building materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugrañez, Rafael; Cruz-Yusta, Manuel; Mármol, Isabel; Martín, Francisco; Morales, Julián; Sánchez, Luis

2012-04-01

Presently, appropriate waste management is one of the main requisites for sustainable development; this task is tackled by the material construction industry. The work described herein is focused on the valorization of granite waste through incorporation, as a filler-functional admixture, into cement-based mortar formulations. The main components of the waste are SiO(2) (62.1 %), Al(2)O(3) (13.2 %), Fe(2)O(3) (10.1 %), and CaO (4.6 %). The presence of iron oxides is used to develop the photocatalytic properties of the waste. Following heating at 700 °C, α-Fe(2)O(3) forms in the waste. The inclusion of the heated sample as a filler admixture in a cement-based mortar is possible. Moreover, this sample exhibits a moderate ability in the photodegradation of organic dye solutions. Also, the plastering mortars, in which the heated samples have been used, show self-cleaning properties. The preparation of sustainable building materials is demonstrated through the adequate reuse of the granite waste. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Biomimetic Architecture in Building Envelope Maintenance (A Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agus Salim N.A.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The study of biomimetic architecture on building envelope is the main structure of this research. The concept is believed more sustainable and efficient for energy saving, operating cost consumption, waste recycle and design renewal in the future. The inspiration from the nature developed the intention on this study to explore on what and how this concept to overcome the problems through design. Biomimicry does catch the attention of human to study more on the system and function of its nature course. The designers are not exception influenced by this concept when the form, shape, texture and colour inspired them in their design. The domination of building form will affect the building envelope as the skin of the structure. A clear impact on building failure is begun with building envelope appearance without a proper maintenance. The faults in building design place a heavy burden on the building for the rest of its operational life and there is no compensation for it. In such situations, the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the designer.

Analysis of Embodied Environmental Impacts of Korean Apartment Buildings Considering Major Building Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seungjun Roh

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Because the reduction in environmental impacts (EIs of buildings using life-cycle assessment (LCA has been emphasized as a practical strategy for the sustainable development of the construction industry, studies are required to analyze not only the operational environmental impacts (OEIs of buildings, but also the embodied environmental impacts (EEIs of building materials. This study aims to analyze the EEIs of Korean apartment buildings on the basis of major building materials as part of research with the goal of reducing the EIs of buildings. For this purpose, six types of building materials (ready-mixed concrete, reinforcement steel, concrete bricks, glass, insulation, and gypsum for apartment buildings were selected as major building materials, and their inputs per unit area according to the structure types and plans of apartment buildings were derived by analyzing the design and bills of materials of 443 apartment buildings constructed in South Korea. In addition, a life-cycle scenario including the production, construction, maintenance, and end-of-life stage was constructed for each major building material. The EEIs of the apartment buildings were quantitatively assessed by applying the life-cycle inventory database (LCI DB and the Korean life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA method based on damage-oriented modeling (KOLID, and the results were analyzed.

Next generation healthcare buildings in South Africa: complexities and opportunities for sustainability

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

De Jager, Peta

2016-05-01

Full Text Available is not, for instance, addressed. The N&S cost model has been developed to take into consideration life-cycle costs. This takes into account that different building elements and materials have different expected service lives and in this way contribute... that it is currently not on a sustainable trajectory, which the 2012 UNU-IHDP and UNEP report contends (p 272). According to the report this is - in large part - due to poor health status and poor life expectancy. The dual epidemics of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV...

Transportable Payload Operations Control Center reusable software: Building blocks for quality ground data systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmot, Ron; Koslosky, John T.; Beach, Edward; Schwarz, Barbara

1994-01-01

The Mission Operations Division (MOD) at Goddard Space Flight Center builds Mission Operations Centers which are used by Flight Operations Teams to monitor and control satellites. Reducing system life cycle costs through software reuse has always been a priority of the MOD. The MOD's Transportable Payload Operations Control Center development team established an extensive library of 14 subsystems with over 100,000 delivered source instructions of reusable, generic software components. Nine TPOCC-based control centers to date support 11 satellites and achieved an average software reuse level of more than 75 percent. This paper shares experiences of how the TPOCC building blocks were developed and how building block developer's, mission development teams, and users are all part of the process.

Building a sustainable complementary and alternative medicine research network in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Reiter, Bettina; Baumhöfener, Franziska; Dlaboha, Meike; Odde Madsen, Jesper; Regenfelder, Stephanie; Weidenhammer, Wolfgang

2012-01-01

Since CAMbrella is a networking project funded by the European Commission explicitly to build and sustain a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) research network in Europe, communication and dissemination play a large role and form a work package of their own. The present article gives an outline of the communication and dissemination work in the CAMbrella consortium. The intensive building of sound internal communication is an essential part in establishing a functioning structure for collaboration in a diverse group of 16 partner institutions from 12 countries, as exists in the CAMbrella project. The means and tools for dissemination of results to the scientific community and the European public at large, as well as to the European policy makers, are presented. The development of the corporate design and a dissemination strategy are described in detail. In addition, some basic information regarding previous CAM research efforts, which might be interesting for future consortium building in the field of CAM research, is given. Internal communication within a heterogeneous research group, the maintenance of a work-oriented style of communication and a consensus oriented effort in establishing dissemination tools and products will be essential for any future consortium in the CAM field. The outlook shows the necessity for active political encouragement of CAM research and the desideratum of a Pan-European institution analogous to the NIH (National Institutes of Health) in the USA.

Building from the bottom, inspired from the top: Accounting for sustainability and the Environment Agency

OpenAIRE

Thomson, I.; Georgakopoulos, G.; Hopwood, A.; Unerman, J.; Fries, J.

2010-01-01

If you were looking for a good example of accounting for sustainability in the UK, a sensible place to start would be the Environment Agency. As well as being responsible for the licensing, regulation and enforcement of environmental protection legislation in England and Wales, it is tasked with transforming businesses and public-sector organizations into more sustainable operations. There are high levels of expertise in sustainable development and environmental protection across the organiza...

NRC new sustainable building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Semczyszyn, D.

2004-01-01

'Full text:' The National Research Council Institute For Fuel Cell Innovation is relocating to a purpose-built 71,343 sq. Ft. (6598 sq. M) Research, Testing, Evaluation, and Industry Incubation Facility in the spring of 2006. The new facility will contain Hydrogen-ready laboratories, the existing relocated Hydrogen Safe Environmental Test Chamber, a hydrogen vehicle maintenance bay, a hydrogen vehicle refuelling station, and the following demonstration projects and features: 1. A Ground Source Heat Pump: This long-proven natural-source heating and cooling technology to provide climate control for the new IFCI's atrium and galleria. It is being designed by Keen Engineering of North Vancouver, BC. 2. 5 KW Solid Oxide Fuel Cell System: Fuelled by natural gas and in the future, from biomass, the fuel cell will also produce approximately 15 kW of waste heat, which will be captured and used to supply heat for the building. The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell will be supplied by Fuel Cell Technologies in Kingston, ON. 3. LEED Building certification: Attaining LEED 'green building' certification is considered an important complement to the plans for the new NRC-IFCI, because it will provide respected third-party verification of government's commitment to efficient building design and construction. Project architects Bunting Coady of Vancouver, BC believe the IFCI has strong potential to earn gold LEED certification. 4. Photovoltaic hydrogen source for back-up power fuel cell system: A photovoltaic array will capture energy from sunlight to power an electrolyzer that will produce and store hydrogen for a PEM fuel cell emergency backup power system. The electrolyzer will be provided by Hydrogenics of Mississauga, ON. Photovoltaics are being designed and installed by the British Columbia Institute of Technology. (author)

Sustainable energy policy - implementation needs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jefferson, M. [Global Energy and Environmental Consultants, Felmersham (United Kingdom)

2000-07-01

Implementation of sustainable energy must address current needs arising from poverty, inequity, unreliability of supplies, social and economic development requirements, and increasing efficiency as well as widening the fuel mix, accelerating the deployment of appropriate new renewable energy schemes, and giving the necessary consideration to protection of the biosphere and the needs of future generations. To achieve these multiple goals markets need to work better, additional investments need to be mobilised in sustainable energy, technological innovation needs to be encouraged, technological diffusion and capacity building in developing countries needs to be supported, and both sounder domestic policies and greater international co-operation are required. (author)

Sustainable Housing Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauring, Gert Michael

2016-01-01

Sustainable Housing Design. Integrating technical and housing quality aspects of sustainable architecture in civil engineering education. Summary An integrated design approach to sustainable architecture is outlined that combines concerns for zero energy building, good indoor climate and adequate...... phases. The outcome shows that integrated design further solutions where sustainable urban forms of settlement can be highly energy efficient while also attractive from a user perspective. Key words: Sustainable architecture, integrated design, zero-energy-housing, dense urban living. 1. Introduction...... When designing sustainable housing, energy optimization and satisfactory indoor climates are central issues that need to be incorporated from early design phases if to reach a coherent design. It might also be argued that the energy consumption of contemporary buildings only plays a rela-tively minor...

The Differential Effect of Sustained Operations on Psychomotor Skills of Helicopter Pilots.

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, Terry W; Newman, David G

2018-06-01

Flying a helicopter is a complex psychomotor skill requiring constant control inputs from pilots. A deterioration in psychomotor performance of a helicopter pilot may be detrimental to operational safety. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that psychomotor performance deteriorates over time during sustained operations and that the effect is more pronounced in the feet than the hands. The subjects were helicopter pilots conducting sustained multicrew offshore flight operations in a demanding environment. The remote flight operations involved constant workload in hot environmental conditions with complex operational tasking. Over a period of 6 d 10 helicopter pilots were tested. At the completion of daily flying duties, a helicopter-specific screen-based compensatory tracking task measuring tracking accuracy (over a 5-min period) tested both hands and feet. Data were compared over time and tested for statistical significance for both deterioration and differential effect. A statistically significant deterioration of psychomotor performance was evident in the pilots over time for both hands and feet. There was also a statistically significant differential effect between the hands and the feet in terms of tracking accuracy. The hands recorded a 22.6% decrease in tracking accuracy, while the feet recorded a 39.9% decrease in tracking accuracy. The differential effect may be due to prioritization of limb movement by the motor cortex due to factors such as workload-induced cognitive fatigue. This may result in a greater reduction in performance in the feet than the hands, posing a significant risk to operational safety.McMahon TW, Newman DG. The differential effect of sustained operations on psychomotor skills of helicopter pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(6):496-502.

Building the capacity of agricultural extension personnel for effective ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper strongly recommends immediate recruitment of new hands as well as full implementation of a well-designed capacity building programme so as to ensure a sustainable extension service delivery system where extension personnel can operate in the expected commercial (agriculture-driven) economy. Keywords: ...

Multi-stakeholder initiatives in sustainable supply chains: Putting sustainability performance in context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cory Searcy

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to explore the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs in sustainable supply chains. I argue that MSIs are needed to help establish and institutionalize the natural and social thresholds in which a sustainable supply chain must operate. While a multitude of MSIs relevant to supply chains already exist, they do not yet adequately address sustainability thresholds. Building on theory and literature, I elaborate on four interrelated roles for MSIs in this area: (1 providing learning platforms, (2 developing standards, (3 developing enforcement mechanisms, and (4 issuing labels and certifications. All four roles emphasize the need for supply chains to operate within the thresholds set by nature and society. Staying within thresholds is what distinguishes between sustainable and unsustainable supply chains. The four roles form part of a broader conceptual framework outlining a way forward for MSIs in sustainable supply chains. Different MSIs could address one or more of these roles. I argue that all MSIs must be developed with special attention to their input and output legitimacy. Stakeholders from both within and beyond the supply chain must be involved in developing and implementing a MSI for it to be viewed as legitimate. I note that the conceptual framework presented here is a starting point. It would benefit from further testing and refinement. For example, future work could add further specificity to the four roles I discuss. Future research could also focus on integrating economic thresholds for sustainable supply chains into the framework.

Beyond "Initiate-Build-Operate-Transfer" strategy for creating sustainable telemedicine programs: lesson from the first decade.

Science.gov (United States)

Latifi, Rifat; Dasho, Erion; Lecaj, Ismet; Latifi, Kalterina; Bekteshi, Flamur; Hadeed, Molly; Doarn, Charles R; Merrell, Ronald C

2012-06-01

December 10, 2012 will mark the 10th anniversary of the implementation of telemedicine in the Balkans. This first decade of development and function is due to the passion, creativity, experience, and implementation know-how of the award-winning concept of the International Virtual e-Hospital (IVeH) Foundation. The objective of this article is to analyze the results of the IVeH's core strategy, "Initiate-Build-Operate-Transfer" (IBOT), which has been instrumental in establishing telemedicine in the Balkans and has been adopted by many other countries worldwide, and to describe the lessons learned that go beyond IBOT. A retrospective review of the results of IVeH engagement in establishing telemedicine in developing countries was conducted. Using IBOT, the IVeH has successfully established two national programs: one in Kosova and one in Albania. Together, they have connected 16 hospitals. Currently IVeH is in the process of creating such programs in many countries around the world. During the analysis of the first decade, we have identified eight factors that should be considered when establishing telemedicine programs. IBOT has been successful, but further studies are needed to demonstrate its effectiveness in countries beyond the Balkans.

Sustainability Base Construction Update