The comparison of international and local sustainable assessment tools of landscape design for housing estate developments : case of Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand

Various countries have been introducing sustainable assessment tools for real estate design to produce integrated sustainability components not just for the building, but also the landscape component of the development. This paper aims to present the comparison between international and local assessment tools of landscape design for housing estate developments in Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR), Thailand. The methodologies used are to review, then compare and identify discrepancy indicators among the tools. This paper will examine four international tools; LEED for Neighbourhood Development (LEED – ND) of United State of America (USA), EnviroDevelopment standards of Australia, Residential Landscape Sustainability of United Kingdom (UK) and Green Mark for Infrastructure of Singapore; and three BMR’s existing tools; Land Subdivision Act B.E. 2543, Environmental Impact Assessment Monitoring Awards (EIA-MA) and Thai’s Rating for Energy and Environmental Sustainability of New construction and major renovation (TREES-NC). The findings show that there are twenty two elements of three categories which are neighbourhood design, community management, and environmental condition. Moreover, only one element in neighbourhood designs different between the international and local tools. The sustainable assessment tools have existed in BMR but they are not complete in only one assessment tool. Thus, the development of new comprehensive assessment tool will be necessary in BMR; however, it should meet the specific environment and climate condition for housing estate development at BMR.

"I'm a designer, get me out of tech class!" : closing the gap between design and technology education

The following paper explores the use of collaborative pedagogical approaches to advance foundational architectural design education, by linking design process to sustainable technology principles. After a brief discussion on architectural design education, the mentioned collaborative approach is described. This approach facilitates students’ exchange of knowledge between two courses, despite no explicit/assessable requirement to do so. The result for the students is deeper learning and a design process that is enriched through collaboration with sustainable technology. The success of this approach has been measured through questionnaires, evaluation surveys, and a comparative assessment of students common to both courses. The paper focuses on the challenges and innovations in connecting architectural design and technology education, where students are encouraged to implement lessons learnt, thereby closing the gap that these courses have traditionally represented.

Navigating technological contexts and experience design in music education

For some time we have jokingly referred to our network jamming research with jam2jam as ‘Switched on Orff’ (Brown, Sorensen and Dillon 2002; Dillon 2003; Dillon 2006; Dillon 2006; Brown and Dillon 2007). The connection with electronic music and Wendy Carlos’ classic work ‘Switched on Bach’ was obvious; we were using electronic music in schools and with children. The deeper connection with Orff however was about recognising that electronic music and instruments could have cultural values and knowledge embedded in their design and practice in same way as what has come to be known as the Orff method (Orff and Keetman 1958-66). However whilst the Orff method focuses upon Western art music perceptual framework electronic instruments have the potential to have more fluid musical environments and even to move to interdisciplinary study by including visual media. Whilst the Orff method focused on making sense of Western art music through experience electronic environments potentially can make sense of the world of multi media that pervades our lives.

Design and evaluation of a prototype tracking system

In this paper, we present the design and construction of a prototype target tracking system. The experimental set up consists of three main modules for moving the object, detecting the motion of the object and its tracking. The mechanism for moving the object includes an object and two stepper motors and their driving and control circuitry. The detection of the object’s motion is realized by photo switch array. The tracking mechanism consists of a laser beam and two DC servomotors and their associated circuitry. The control algorithm is a standard fuzzy logic controller. The system is designed to operate in two modes in such a way that the role of target and tracker can be interchanged. Experimental results indicate that the fuzzy controller is capable of controlling the system in both modes.

Ubiquitous eco cities : telecommunication infrastructure, technology convergence and urban management

Efficient and effective urban management systems for Ubiquitous Eco Cities require having intelligent and integrated management mechanisms. This integration includes bringing together economic, socio-cultural and urban development with a well orchestrated, transparent and open decision-making system and necessary infrastructure and technologies. In Ubiquitous Eco Cities telecommunication technologies play an important role in monitoring and managing activities via wired and wireless networks. Particularly, technology convergence creates new ways in which information and telecommunication technologies are used and formed the backbone of urban management. The 21st Century is an era where information has converged, in which people are able to access a variety of services, including internet and location based services, through multi-functional devices and provides new opportunities in the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities. This chapter discusses developments in telecommunication infrastructure and trends in convergence technologies and their implications on the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities

Voices of the Unheard

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. Horace - Roman lyric poet and satirist 65BC – 8 BC This quotation from Horace could well be the chorus to a medley of songs sung by people who face extraordinary adversity and have gained emotional resilience through music making. In this chapter we present three composition ventures that are stories or verses in a new song and whose chorus summarises the nature of the resilience factors present in the narratives. We are aware that words on a page like this can have the effect of filtering out the engaging nature of musical experience and reduce music to a critique or an evaluation of its aesthetic value. This disjuncture between language and the ephemeral, embodied experience is a problem for those who use these creative processes in therapeutic and salutogenic ways (Antonovsky, 1996) for public health. The notion of salutogenic health, put simply, delineates it from therapy in that the processes focus upon wellness rather than therapy. Whilst we include evidence from the fields of community music therapy (Pavlicevic, 2004; Leitschuh et al., 1991), neuroscience (Bittman et al., 2001) and community music (Bartleet et al., 2009) the framework for a salutogenic health outcome in community music is one which seeks to employ music practices and the qualities of music making that provide positive health benefit to communities –to enhance health and well being rather than the “treatment” of disorders. It is essentially a holistic and interdisciplinary study. Therapy and salutogenic health are not mutually exclusive as both depend upon the qualities of music experience to affect change. Collecting, analysing and presenting evidence of change in human behaviour that can be directly attributed to creative music making is a problem of evaluation.

Positive relationships among collaboration for innovation, past innovation abandonment and future product introduction in manufacturing SMEs

The importance of collaboration for firm level innovation has been well established but much of the research focuses on large firms, with little research on small and medium enterprises. This paper investigates the links between product innovation and external collaboration and between future product innovation and past abandonment in small and medium sized firms, analysing data from 449 manufacturing firms, collected through the Australian Business Longitudinal Database. Our findings indicate firms that sought ideas or solutions from external network such as suppliers, or business partners reported higher level of new product introduction than firms that did not have any external collaboration. Further, firms with past abandonment experiences reported higher levels of new product introduction than firms that did not have such experience. Additionally, the findings indicated that firms with external collaboration were more likely to introduce new products even if they had previously experienced abandonment of a product innovation than firms without external collaboration. Implications, limitations and future research are outlined.

Patterns, heuristics for architectural design support: making use of evolutionary modelling in design

Software used by architectural and industrial designers – has moved from becoming a tool for drafting, towards use in verification, simulation, project management and project sharing remotely. In more advanced models, parameters for the designed object can be adjusted so a family of variations can be produced rapidly. With advances in computer aided design technology, numerous design options can now be generated and analyzed in real time. However the use of digital tools to support design as an activity is still at an early stage and has largely been limited in functionality with regard to the design process. To date, major CAD vendors have not developed an integrated tool that is able to both leverage specialized design knowledge from various discipline domains (known as expert knowledge systems) and support the creation of design alternatives that satisfy different forms of constraints. We propose that evolutionary computing and machine learning be linked with parametric design techniques to record and respond to a designer’s own way of working and design history. It is expected that this will lead to results that impact on future work on design support systems-(ergonomics and interface) as well as implicit constraint and problem definition for problems that are difficult to quantify.

Green roofs : understanding their benefits for Australia

Summary of Actions Towards Sustainable Outcomes Environmental Issues / Principal Impacts The increased growth of cities is intensifying its impact on people and the environment through: • increased use of energy for the heating and cooling of more buildings, leading to urban heat islands and more greenhouse gas emissions • increased amount of hard surfaces contributing to higher temperatures in cities and more stormwater runoff • degraded air quality and noise impact • reduced urban biodiversity • compromised health and general well-being of people Basic Strategies In many design situations boundaries and constraints limit the application of cutting EDGe actions. In these circumstances designers should at least consider the following: • Consider green roofs early in the design process in consultation with all stakeholders to enable maximised integration with building systems and to mitigate building cost (avoid constructing as a retrofit). • Design of the green roof as part of a building’s structural, mechanical and hydraulic systems could lead to structural efficiency, the ability to optimise cooling benefits and better integrated water recycling systems. • Inform the selection of the type of green roof by considering its function, for example designing for social activity, required maintenance/access regime, recycling of water or habitat regeneration or a combination of uses. • Evaluate existing surroundings to determine possible links to the natural environment and choice of vegetation for the green roof with availability of local plant supply and expertise. Cutting EDGe Strategies • Create green roofs to contribute positively to the environment through reduced urban heat island effect and building temperatures, to improved stormwater quality, increased natural habitats, provision of social spaces and opportunity for increased local food supply. • Maximise solar panel efficiency by incorporating with design of green roof. • Integrate multiple functions for a single green roof such as grey water recycling, food production, more bio-diverse plantings, air quality improvement and provision of delightful spaces for social interaction. Synergies & references • BEDP Environment Design Guide DES 53: Roof and Facade Gardens GEN 4: Positive Development – designing for Net Positive Impacts TEC 26: Living Walls - a way to green the built environment • Green Roofs Australia: www.greenroofs.wordpress.com • International Green Roof Association: www.igra-world.com • Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (USA): www.greenroofs.org • Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology (Singapore): http://research.cuge.com.sg

What learners "know" through digital media production : learning by design

The power to influence others in ever-expanding social networks in the new knowledge economy is tied to capabilities with digital media production that require increased technological knowledge. This article draws on research in elementary classrooms to examine the repertoires of cross-disciplinary knowledge that literacy learners need to produce innovative digital media via the “social web”. The article builds on Learning by Design and the Knowledge Processes to describe “how” learning occurs, while presenting a model to theorise “what” students know – the Knowledge Assets – when learners produce digital and multimodal texts.

Investigating design, creativity and entrepreneurial processes

Entrepreneurship, creativity, and design are all ingredients of the innovation process and are sometimes confused, misapplied, and used interchangeably. This conceptual paper responds to recent calls for further investigation of the links between entrepreneurship and related disciplines, and explores a solution focused approach most strongly developed and applied in new product and enterprise development — that of design and design thinking. The paper extends prior research on entrepreneurship, creativity, and design, and argues for tighter links between these notions in the establishment and ongoing evolution of enterprises.

Skills for creative industries graduate success

Purpose: Although there is increasing evidence that the creative industries are essential to national economic growth as well as social and cultural well-being, creative graduates often find it difficult to become established professionally. This study investigates the value of career management competence and intrinsic career motivations (as elements of ‘protean career orientation’) in predicting positive graduate outcomes. ----- ----- Design/methodology: Self-report surveys were administered to 208 creative industries graduates from two Australian universities at two points in time: at course completion, and one year later. ----- ----- Findings: Individual career management competence and intrinsic work motivations, measured at course completion, were significant predictors of early career success, using both subjective and objective measures, measured one year later. ----- ----- Practical implications: This study suggests that an emphasis on student development beyond the traditional ‘key’ employability skills may well be worthwhile. The article also suggests a broad learning and teaching approach by which universities can encourage the development of student career identity, and thus engender student intrinsic career motivations and career self management skills and behaviours. ----- ----- Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to demonstrate empirically a link between a particular set of skills and graduate outcomes. In addition, it provides insights into the role of student career motivations in positive transitions to the world of work in the creative industries.

A preferred music listening intervention to reduce anxiety in older adults with dementia in nursing homes

Aim: This article reports the results of a study evaluating a preferred music listening intervention for reducing anxiety in older adults with dementia in nursing homes. Background. Anxiety can have a significant negative impact on older adults’ functional status, quality of life and health care resources. However, anxiety is often under-diagnosed and inappropriately treated in those with dementia. Little is known about the use of a preferred music listening intervention for managing anxiety in those with dementia.---------- Design: A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design was used. ---------- Methods: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a preferred music listening intervention on anxiety in older adults with dementia in nursing home. Twenty-nine participants in the experimental group received a 30-minute music listening intervention based on personal preferences delivered by trained nursing staff in mid-afternoon, twice a week for six weeks. Meanwhile, 23 participants in the control group only received usual standard care with no music. Anxiety was measured by Rating Anxiety in Dementia at baseline and week six. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine the effectiveness of a preferred music listening intervention on anxiety at six weeks while controlling for pretest anxiety, age and marital status. Results. ANCOVA results indicated that older adults who received the preferred music listening had a significantly lower anxiety score at six weeks compared with those who received the usual standard care with no music (F = 12Æ15, p = 0Æ001).---------- Conclusions: Preferred music listening had a positive impact by reducing the level of anxiety in older adults with dementia. Relevance to clinical practice. Nursing staff can learn how to implement preferred music intervention to provide appropriate care tailored to the individual needs of older adults with dementia. Preferred music listening is an inexpensive and viable intervention to promote mental health of those with dementia.

Health risk from the use of roof-harvested rainwater in Southeast Queensland, Australia, as potable or nonpotable water, determined using quantitative microbial risk assessment

A total of 214 rainwater samples from 82 tanks were collected in urban Southeast Queensland (SEQ) in Australia and analysed for the zoonotic bacterial and protozoan pathogen using real-time binary PCR and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) analysis was used to quantify the risk of infection associated with the exposure to potential pathogens from potable and non-potable uses of roof-harvested rainwater. Of the 214 samples tested, 10.7%, 9.8%, and 5.6%, and 0.4% samples were positive for Salmonella invA, Giardia lamblia β-giardin , Legionella pneumophila mip, and Campylobacter jejuni mapA genes. Cryptosporidium parvum could not be detected. The estimated numbers of viable Salmonella spp., G. lamblia β-giradin, and L. pneumophila genes ranged from 1.6 × 101 to 9.5 × 101 cells, 1.4 × 10-1 to 9.0 × 10-1 cysts, and 1.5 × 101 to 4.3 × 101 per 1000 ml of water, respectively. Six risk scenarios were considered from exposure to Salmonella spp., G. lamblia and L. pneumophila. For Salmonella spp., and G. lamblia, these scenarios were: (1) liquid ingestion due to drinking of rainwater on a daily basis (2) accidental liquid ingestion due to garden hosing twice a week (3) aerosol ingestion due to showering on a daily basis, and (4) aerosol ingestion due to hosing twice a week. For L. pneumophila, these scenarios were: (5) aerosol inhalation due to showering on a daily basis, and (6) aerosol inhalation due to hosing twice a week. The risk of infection from Salmonella spp., G. lamblia, and L. pneumophila associated with the use of rainwater for showering and garden hosing was calculated to be well below the threshold value of one extra infection per 10,000 persons per year in urban SEQ. However, the risk of infection from ingesting Salmonella spp. and G. lamblia via drinking exceeds this threshold value, and indicates that if undisinfected rainwater were ingested by drinking, then the gastrointestinal diseases of Salmonellosis and Giardiasis is expected to range from 5.0 × 100 to 2.8 × 101 (Salmonellosis) and 1.0 × 101 to 6.4 × 101 (Giardiasis) cases per 10,000 persons per year, respectively. Since this health risk seems higher than that expected from the reported incidences of gastroenteritis, the assumptions used to estimate these infection risks are critically examined. Nonetheless, it would seem prudent to disinfect rainwater for potable use.

Sustainable urban stormwater management : water sensitive urban design perceptions, drivers and barriers

Stormwater has been recognised as one of the main culprits of aquatic ecosystem pollution and as a significant threat to the goal of ecological sustainable development. Water sensitive urban design is one of the key responses to the need to better manage urban stormwater runoff, the objectives of which go beyond rapid and efficient conveyance. Underpinned by the concepts of sustainable urban development, water sensitive urban design has proven to be an efficient and environmentally-friendly approach to urban stormwater management, with the necessary technical know-how and skills already available. However, large-scale implementation of water sensitive urban design is still lacking in Australia due to significant impediments and negative perceptions. Identification of the issues, barriers and drivers that affect sustainability outcomes of urban stormwater management is one of the first steps towards encouraging the wide-scale uptake of water sensitive urban design features which integrate sustainable urban stormwater management. This chapter investigates key water sensitive urban design perceptions, drivers and barriers in order to improve sustainable urban stormwater management efforts.