Smart Measures for Sustainable Outcomes: Integrated Considerations for Sustainable Refurbishment of Office Buildings

The increasing stock of aging office buildings will see a significant growth in retrofitting projects in Australian capital cities. Stakeholders of refitting works will also need to take on the sustainability challenge and realize tangible outcomes through project delivery. Traditionally, decision making for aged buildings, when facing the alternatives, is typically economically driven and on ad hoc basis. This leads to the tendency to either delay refitting for as long as possible thus causing building conditions to deteriorate, or simply demolish and rebuild with unjust financial burden. The technologies involved are often limited to typical strip-clean and repartition with dry walls and office cubicles. Changing business operational patterns, the efficiency of office space, and the demand on improved workplace environment, will need more innovative and intelligent approaches to refurbishing office buildings. For example, such projects may need to respond to political, social, environmental and financial implications. There is a need for the total consideration of buildings structural assessment, modeling of operating and maintenance costs, new architectural and engineering designs that maximise the utility of the existing structure and resulting productivity improvement, specific construction management procedures including procurement methods, work flow and scheduling and occupational health and safety. Recycling potential and conformance to codes may be other major issues. This paper introduces examples of Australian research projects which provided a more holistic approach to the decision making of refurbishing office space, using appropriate building technologies and products, assessment of residual service life, floor space optimisation and project procurement in order to bring about sustainable outcomes. The paper also discusses a specific case study on critical factors that influence key building components for these projects and issues for integrated decision support when dealing with the refurbishment, and indeed the “re-life”, of office buildings.

Integrating electrical vehicles to demand side response scheme in Queensland Australia

Depleting fossil fuel resources and increased accumulation of greenhouse gas emissions are increasingly making electrical vehicles (EV) attractive option for the transportation sector. However uncontrolled random charging and discharging of EVs may aggravate the problems of an already stressed system during the peak demand and cause voltage problems during low demand. This paper develops a demand side response scheme for properly integrating EVs in the Electrical Network. The scheme enacted upon information on electricity market conditions regularly released by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on the internet. The scheme adopts Internet relays and solid state switches to cycle charging and discharging of EVs. Due to the pending time-of-use and real-price programs, financial benefits will represent driving incentives to consumers to implement the scheme. A wide-scale dissemination of the scheme is expected to mitigate excessive peaks on the electrical network with all associated technical, economic and social benefits.

Performance enhancement of smart antennas with reduced element spacing

This paper addresses the problem of degradations in adaptive digital beam-forming (DBF) systems caused by mutual coupling between array elements. The focus is on compact arrays with reduced element spacing and, hence, strongly coupled elements. Deviations in the radiation patterns of coupled and (theoretically) uncoupled elements can be compensated for by weight-adjustments in DBF, but SNR degradation due to impedance mismatches cannot be compensated for via signal processing techniques. It is shown that this problem can be overcome via the implementation of a RF-decoupling-network. SNR enhancement is achieved at the cost of a reduced frequency bandwidth and an increased sensitivity to dissipative losses in the antenna and matching network structure.

Practices of interactive courseware at Malaysia primary smart school : usage standing and causes attributing

Malaysian teachers are now using interactive courseware in their teaching practices as part of teaching activity in classroom, to teach some subjects such as languages, mathematics, and science. Towards this, there is some debate going on the effectiveness of interactive courseware used in classroom. This paper reports data from interviews conducted with school principals and teachers from six selected primary Smart Schools across Malaysia.The interview conducted is looked on their current school practices and challenges in the implementation of interactive courseware in the classroom. The interview covers several aspects of their school facilities, the causes attributed and their concerns. However, the findings revealed that these six schools generally need more supports in the physical and technical form, in order to utilize the interactive courseware. Initially, the current support from the Malaysian Ministry of Education in physical form has proved that not very helpful. Thus, the respondents suggested that supports should be both: physical and technical. Therefore, this preliminary findings could be used as a pointer to the Malaysian government and other stakeholders to the improvement of interface design for future interactive courseware.

Interface design in interactive science courseware for the Malaysian Smart School Project

With the goal of improving the academic performance of primary and secondary students in Malaysia by 2020, the Malaysian Ministry of Education has made a significant investment in developing a Smart School Project. The aim of this project is to introduce interactive courseware into primary and secondary schools across Malaysia. As has been the case around the world, interactive courseware is regarded as a tool to motivate students to learn meaningfully and enhance learning experiences. Through an initial pilot phase, the Malaysian government has commissioned the development of interactive courseware by a number of developers and has rolled this courseware out to selected schools over the past 12 years. However, Ministry reports and several independent researchers have concluded that its uptake has been limited, and that much of the courseware has not been used effectively in schools. This has been attributed to weaknesses in the interface design of the courseware, which, it has been argued, fails to accommodate the needs of students and teachers. Taking the Smart School Project's science courseware as a sample, this research project has investigated the extent, nature, and reasons for the problems that have arisen. In particular, it has focused on examining the quality and effectivity of the interface design in facilitating interaction and supporting learning experiences. The analysis has been conducted empirically, by first comparing the interface design principles, characteristics and components of the existing courseware against best practice, as described in the international literature, as well as against the government guidelines provided to the developers. An ethnographic study was then undertaken to observe how the courseware is used and received in the classroom, and to investigate the stakeholders' (school principal, teachers and students') perceptions of its usability and effectivity. Finally, to understand how issues may have arisen, a review of the development process has been undertaken and it has been compared to development methods recommended in the literature, as well as the guidelines provided to the developers. The outcomes of the project include an empirical evaluation of the quality of the interface design of the Smart School Project's science courseware; the identification of other issues that have affected its uptake; an evaluation of the development process and, out of this, an extended set of principles to guide the design and development of future Smart School Project courseware to ensure that it accommodates the various stakeholders' needs.

The concept of smart cities

Rapid urbanization has resulted in migration of people in urban areas and spatial expansion of urban infrastructures, consequently causing many undesirable malaises and challenges. Concerned with the uncontrolled growth of cities and the associated malaises, there have been numerous initiatives to promote a more rational development of cities. The idea of making cities smart is one of the most promising initiatives which have been a subject of research and development in modern cities. Despite the many activities and initiatives to promote smartness in cities, there is little agreement on what constitute smartness in a city. This inevitably leads to a diversified ways of defining smart cities. By reviewing the existing definitions of smart cities, this paper proposes a framework to define and measure a city’s smartness in a more correct manner.

It’s about time : investing in transportation to keep Texas economically competitive : Appendices

APPENDIX A : PAVEMENT QUALITY (Zhanmin Zhang, Michael R. Murphy, Robert Harrison), 7 pages -- APPENDIX B : BRIDGE QUALITY (Jose Weissmann, Angela J. Weissmann), 6 pages -- APPENDIX C : URBAN TRAFFIC CONGESTION (Tim Lomax, David Schrank), 32 pages -- APPENDIX D: RURAL CORRIDORS (Tim Lomax, David Schrank), 6 pages -- APPENDIX E: ADDITIONAL REVENUE SOURCE OPTIONS FOR PAVEMENT AND BRIDGE MAINTENANCE (Mike Murphy, Seokho Chi, Randy Machemehl, Khali Persad, Robert Harrison, Zhanmin Zhang), 81 pages -- APPENDIX F: FUNDING TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS (David Ellis, Brianne Glover, Nick Norboge, Wally Crittenden), 19 pages -- APPENDIX G: ESTIMATING VEHICLE OPERATING COSTS AND PAVEMENT DETERIORATION (by Robert Harrison), 4 pages

Pathways for developing a 'smart' workforce : does the achievement of formal workplace qualifications encourage participation in higher education?

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a public workforce education initiative in the context of State and agency policies designed to enhance employee capabilities to adapt to a volatile and changing environment. In particular, we are concerned with public employees’ experience of a higher educational pathway that resulted in their obtaining a Diploma level qualification. In addition to understanding the employees’ experience of this pathway we were interested in whether the experience contributed to their openness to the prospect of university level education. We conducted telephone interviews with a sample of participants from the program. Employees reported very positive experience of the program; in particular employees reported enhanced efficacy beliefs, a strong sense of achievement, and a feeling of recognition. This experience is explained by four main factors; (1) a program design that was well aligned with the employees learning needs, (2) strong support by organisational staff who delivered and assessed participants on capability criteria, (3) strong management support for employees’ participation, (4) an academic ceremony that provided participants with public recognition of their achievement by valued others. Participants’ motivation to participate was primarily intrinsic rather than extrinsic. Participants in the study reported that their experience in this educational pathway gave them the confidence to consider the possibility of university level education. The paper also discusses the practitioner-academic collaboration that led to the development of this paper.

A safety adapted car following model for traffic safety studies

Traffic safety studies demand more than what current micro-simulation models can provide as they presume that all drivers exhibit safe behaviors. All the microscopic traffic simulation models include a car following model. This paper highlights the limitations of the Gipps car following model ability to emulate driver behavior for safety study purposes. A safety adapted car following model based on the Gipps car following model is proposed to simulate unsafe vehicle movements, with safety indicators below critical thresholds. The modifications are based on the observations of driver behavior in real data and also psychophysical notions. NGSIM vehicle trajectory data is used to evaluate the new model and short following headways and Time To Collision are employed to assess critical safety events within traffic flow. Risky events are extracted from available NGSIM data to evaluate the modified model against them. The results from simulation tests illustrate that the proposed model can predict the safety metrics better than the generic Gipps model. The outcome of this paper can potentially facilitate assessing and predicting traffic safety using microscopic simulation.

Start Smart : QUT’s trial support program for commencing undergraduate students who have not completed year 12 in the past two years

Commencing students in undergraduate degrees who identify as mature age students experience particular issues when faced with enrolment into university as an adult learner (Bird & Morgan, 2003). In line with QUT’s commitment to “supporting all commencing students to adjust successfully to study at QUT by providing a strong transition experience” (QUT, 2008, 6.2.1), the Start Smart trial program was developed and implemented for Semester 1, 2012. The Start Smart trial program consists of an orientation event, wrapped around and supported by existing First Year Experience (FYE) and Retention strategies within QUT, namely the Student Success Program (SSP) and the Peer Programs Strategy (PPS). This report examines the motivations for designing a program as a response to the needs of a cohort that are unique amongst all commencing undergraduate students. Participants will be asked to consider the implications of delivering special and unique orientation events to specific cohorts, and the long term sustainability of such programs within their own university structures.

Physically sound vehicle-driver model for realistic microscopic simulation

In microscopic traffic simulators, the interaction between vehicles is considered. The dynamics of the system then becomes an emergent property of the interaction between its components. Such interactions include lane-changing, car-following behaviours and intersection management. Although, in some cases, such simulators produce realistic prediction, they do not allow for an important aspect of the dynamics, that is, the driver-vehicle interaction. This paper introduces a physically sound vehicle-driver model for realistic microscopic simulation. By building a nanoscopic traffic simulation model that uses steering angle and throttle position as parameters, the model aims to overcome unrealistic acceleration and deceleration values, as found in various microscopic simulation tools. A physics engine calculates the driving force of the vehicle, and the preliminary results presented here, show that, through a realistic driver-vehicle-environment simulator, it becomes possible to model realistic driver and vehicle behaviours in a traffic simulation.

Smart grid-demand side response model for optimization air conditioning

The growing demand of air-conditioning is one of the largest contributors to Australia’s overall electricity consumption. This has started to create peak load supply problems for some electricity utilities particularly in Queensland. This research aimed to develop consumer demand side response model to assist electricity consumers to mitigate peak demand on the electrical network. The model developed demand side response model to allow consumers to manage and control air conditioning for every period, it is called intelligent control. This research investigates optimal response of end-user toward electricity price for several cases in the near future, such as: no spike, spike and probability spike price cases. The results indicate the potential of the scheme to achieve energy savings, reducing electricity bills (costs) to the consumer and targeting best economic performance for electrical generation distribution and transmission.

Editorial : promoting integrated development for smart and sustainable built environment

Purpose – This purpose of this paper is to introduce the new Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE) journal to readers by discussing the background and underlying principles of its establishment, the editorial visions, and the range of papers selected in this first issue. It will encourage readers and potential authors to consider the need for integrated approaches to sustainability problems, to take on emerging challenges in the built environment and to join the SASBE journal in finding and promoting optimum solutions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper explores the evolving nature of sustainability, the recent trends of sustainability endeavours in built environment and the current knowledge gaps. The need to bridge these gaps is then discussed in the context of suggested remedies and justifications. This leads to the development of a smart and sustainable built environment as a R&D philosophy for world researchers as part of their interactions with professional bodies and agencies such as CIB, UNEP and iiSBE, and the establishment of the SASBE journal. Findings – Sustainable development in the built environment requires holistic thinking and decision making and innovative solutions that enhance sustainability and result in mutually beneficial outcomes for all stakeholders. A dedicated forum, through the journal of SASBE, is much needed for the exploration, discussion, debate, and promotion of these integrated approaches. Originality/value – Through presenting an overview of the current issues and identifying gaps in the understanding and pursuit of sustainability in the built environment, this paper suggests potential areas for future research and practice as well as possible topics for authors to make new contributions.