Eco-retrofitting with building integrated living systems

Building integrated living systems (BILS), such as green roofs and living walls, could mitigate many of the challenges presented by climate change and biodiversity protection. However, few if any such systems have been constructed, and current tools for evaluating them are limited, especially under Australian subtropical conditions. BILS are difficult to assess, because living systems interact with complex, changing and site-specific social and environmental conditions. Our past research in design for eco-services has confirmed the need for better means of assessing the ecological values of BILS - let alone better models for assessing their thermal and hydrological performance. To address this problem, a research project is being developed jointly by researchers at the Central Queensland University (CQ University) and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), along with industry collaborators. A mathematical model under development at CQ University will be applied and tested to determine its potential for predicting their complex, dynamic behaviour in different contexts. However, the paper focuses on the work at QUT. The QUT school of design is generating designs for living walls and roofs that provide a range of ecosystem goods and services, or ‘eco-services’, for a variety of micro-climates and functional contexts. The research at QUT aims to develop appropriate designs, virtual prototypes and quantitative methods for assessing the potential multiple benefits of BILS in subtropical climates. It is anticipated that the CQ University model for predicting thermal behaviour of living systems will provide a platform for the integration of ecological criteria and indicators. QUT will also explore means to predict and measure the value of eco-services provided by the systems, which is still largely uncharted territory. This research is ultimately intended to facilitate the eco-retrofitting of cities to increase natural capital and urban resource security - an essential component of sustainability. The talk will present the latest range of multifunctional, eco-productive living walls, roofs and urban space frames and their eco-services.

Eco-retrofitting - from managerialism to design

As all environmental problems are caused by human systems of design, sustainability can be seen as a design problem. Given the massive energy and material flows through the built environment, sustainability simply cannot be achieved without the re-design of our urban areas. ‘Eco-retrofitting’, as used here, means modifying buildings and/or urban areas to create net positive social and environmental impacts – both on site and off site. While this has probably not been achieved anywhere as yet, myriad but untapped eco-solutions are already available which could be up-scaled to the urban level. It is now well established that eco-retrofitting buildings and cities with appropriate design technology can pay for itself through lower health costs, productivity increases and resource savings. Good design would also mean happier human and ecological communities at a much lower cost over time. In fact, good design could increase life quality and the life support services of nature while creating sustainable‘economic’growth. The impediments are largely institutional and intellectual, which can be encapsulated in the term ‘managerial’. There are, however, also systems design solutions to the managerial obstacles that seem to be stalling the transition to sustainable systems designs. Given the sustainability imperative, then, why is the adoption of better management systems so slow? The oral presentation will show examples of ways in which built environment design can create environments that not only reduce the ongoing damage of past design, but could theoretically generate net positive social and ecological outcomes over their life cycle. These illustrations show that eco-retrofitting could cost society less than doing nothing - especially given the ongoing renovations of buildings - but for managerial hurdles. The paper outlines on how traditional managerial approaches stand in the way of ‘design for ecosystem services’, and list some management solutions that have long been identified, but are not yet widely adopted. Given the pervasive nature of these impediments and their alternatives, they are presented by way of examples. A sampling of eco-retrofitting solutions are also listed to show that ecoretrofitting is a win-win-win solution that stands ready to be implemented by people having management skills and/or positions of influence.

Daggy shirts, daggy slogans? marketing unions to young people

In light of declining trade union density, specifically among young workers, this article explores how trade unions recruit, service and organize young people. Our focus is the way in which trade unions market their services to the young. We use, as a lens of analysis, the services and social marketing literature and the concept of an ‘unsought, experience good’ to explore trade union strategy. Based on interviews with a number of union officials in the state of Queensland, it is clear that unions see the issue of recruitment of young people as significant, and that innovative strategies are being used in at least some unions. However, the research also indicates that despite union awareness, strategies are uneven and resource allocation is patchy. While the research was carried out in one state, the results and conclusion are broadly applicable to the Australian labour movement as a whole, and have implications for union movements in other Anglophone countries.

Knowledge is not power, but it’s a start : young people and employment entitlements

This paper employs empirical evidence from a survey of Queensland secondary school students to examine their knowledge about their wages and working conditions. It does so within the theoretical lens of the Gagne (or Gagne-Briggs) theory of instruction, which centres on the content of learning and how learning is acquired (Gagne, Briggs & Wager, 1988). While Gagne articulates five categories of learning, our focus here is on two; verbal information or declarative knowledge (facts that people can declare), and procedural knowledge (the rules and procedures for achieving outcomes). We show that student workers know little about the instruments governing their employment, or their workplace entitlements. Of the total sample of year 9 and year 11 students surveyed (n=892), those students who worked, or who had worked in the past year (n=438), were asked to identify whether they were employed under an award, collective agreement or AWA. Eighty three per cent of students did not know which industrial instrument set their wages. We argue that if young workers do not have declarative knowledge of their entitlements, nor basic procedural knowledge about redress, then they are not in a position to deploy Gagne’s ‘cognitive strategies’ that would enable them to take action to ensure their working conditions meet legal minima. We advocate that young workers should be given summary information on their wages and other entitlements on appointment and that such summary information should be readily available on employers’ noticeboards and electronically on company websites, and that the information should include a brief summary of avenues for redressing issues of underpayment or sub-standard conditions.

Binjiang urban centre and transport interchange

This project is the result of a collaborative design process involving QUT School of Design, and AREN Consulting and ZIAD (Zheijiang Provincial Institute of Architectural Design and Research). This major urban initiative explores new standards for multi-function urban centres. The sophisticated integration of transit interchange with retail, commercial and residential functions provides a dramatic mix of social activities. The large site is formed into a raised and terraced urban garden, with the transit centre and retail shopping precinct housed below this landscaped roof. Towering above this ‘hill’ are five building blocks housing the commercial and residential accommodations. These environmentally low-impact buildings are topped with a high-tech greenhouse roof or photovoltaic cells.

Social citizenship and employment for secondary school students

The project aimed to understand how young people in different socio-demographic categories (age, gender, rurality) conceptualise and negotiate employment relations and the structural mechanisms (education, industry, legislation) through which youth are socialised in employment citizenship. The study extends previous research on youth employment in that it combines data from young people with that from other key actors in education and employment; that is, schools, employers, government, unions and non-government organizations. Despite the disparate nature of these groups there were some common themes regarding young workers. All agreed, for example, that there was a need for a greater level of employment knowledge and understanding among young people and that the current provisions for information dissemination on this subject are inadequate. There was also general consensus that, despite the need for some further clarifications and some potential limitations, the Child Employment Act 2006 (Qld) was beneficial.

Green energy : sustainable energy sources and alternative technologies

Despite the general evolution and broadening of the scope of the concept of infrastructure in many other sectors, the energy sector has maintained the same narrow boundaries for over 80 years. Energy infrastructure is still generally restricted in meaning to the transmission and distribution networks of electricity and, to some extent, gas. This is especially true in the urban development context. This early 20th century system is struggling to meet community expectations that the industry itself created and fostered for many decades. The relentless growth in demand and changing political, economic and environmental challenges require a shift from the traditional ‘predict and provide’ approach to infrastructure which is no longer economically or environmentally viable. Market deregulation and a raft of demand and supply side management strategies have failed to curb society’s addiction to the commodity of electricity. None of these responses has addressed the fundamental problem. This chapter presents an argument for the need for a new paradigm. Going beyond peripheral energy efficiency measures and the substitution of fossil fuels with renewables, it outlines a new approach to the provision of energy services in the context of 21st century urban environments.

Applying environmentally responsive characteristics of vernacular architecture to sustainable housing in Vietnam

Over many centuries of settlement, Vietnamese inhabitants have developed a vernacular architecture that is well adapted to the region’s climatic and topographical conditions. Vernacular Vietnamese housing uses natural systems to create a built environment that integrates well with nature. The vernacular combines site-sensitive, passive solar design, natural materials and appropriate structure to achieve harmony among nature, humans and the built environment. Unfortunately, these unique features have not been applied in contemporary Vietnamese architecture, which displays energy-intensive materials and built forms. This research is analysing how environmentally-responsive elements of vernacular architecture could be applied to modern sustainable housing in Vietnam. Elements of many types of vernacular architecture throughout the country are reviewed as precedents for future building planning and design. The paper also looks at culturally and ecologically appropriate legislative and voluntary options for encouraging more sustainable housing.

Towards sustainable housing for Vietnam

Economic development in Vietnam has led to the spontaneous development of new housing in many parts of Vietnam without consideration of environmental protection, cultural suitability, or resource reduction. The transition of Vietnamese housing into a sustainable industry is both an opportunity and challenge. Vietnam has to satisfy a growing demand for housing while confronting the issues of climate change, extreme weather events, nature conservation and cultural heritage. To that end, model green building guidelines are being developed to facilitate Vietnam’s adoption of sustainable development principles and practices. This paper presents the results of a survey and interviews carried out in Vietnam to ensure that model green guidelines align with the cultural and consumer preferences of the Vietnamese people.

Textbook portrayal of grieving stereotypes fails to cohere : a review

JANIS Balodis's Engine appears to have an educative purpose. Following the tragic death of her brother Stevie in a car crash, Natasha and her family struggle to cope with the devastation this sudden trauma has dealt them. Overlooked by her grieving parents, Natasha expresses her emotions by skipping school, self-harming and, as Engine unfolds, trying to enlist her Grumpop to help her finish rebuilding the car that could have saved Stevie's life by eliminating his need to catch a ride with a car full of friends. The symbolic action that drives Engine - rebuilding the car to rebuild Natasha and Grumpop's lives in the wake of trauma and guilt - is full of potential. It gives the design team, particularly designer Justin Nardella and composer Matt Hill, a strong premise to construct the garage that transforms into a home, a school, a church, a part, and the road on which the accident took place as the play unfolds.

Digital modelling for sustainability

Digital modelling tools are the next generation of computer aided design (CAD) tools for the construction industry. They allow a designer to build a virtual model of the building project before the building is constructed. This supports a whole range of analysis, and the identification and resolution of problems before they arise on-site, in ways that were previously not feasible.

Young people’s aspirations for education, work, family and leisure

Young people are arguably facing more ‘complex and contested’ transitions to adulthood and an increasing array of ‘non-linear’ paths. Education and training have been extended, identity is increasingly shaped through leisure and consumerism and youth must navigate their life trajectories in highly individualised ways. The study utilises 819 short essays compiled by students aged 14–16 years from 19 schools in Australia. It examines how young people understand their own unique positions and the possibilities open to them through their aspirations and future orientations to employment and family life. These young people do not anticipate postponing work identities, but rather embrace post-school options such as gaining qualifications, work experience and achieving financial security. Boys expected a distant involvement in family life secondary to participation in paid work. In contrast, around half the girls simultaneously expected a future involving primary care-giving and an autonomous, independent career, suggesting attempts to remake gendered inequalities