Design and management of sustainable built environments

The United Nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes it clear that climate change is due to human activities and it recognises buildings as a distinct sector among the seven analysed in its 2007 Fourth Assessment Report. Global concerns have escalated regarding carbon emissions and sustainability in the built environment. The built environment is a human-made setting to accommodate human activities, including building and transport, which covers an interdisciplinary field addressing design, construction, operation and management. Specifically, Sustainable Buildings are expected to achieve high performance throughout the life-cycle of siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance and demolition, in the following areas: • energy and resource efficiency; • cost effectiveness; • minimisation of emissions that negatively impact global warming, indoor air quality and acid rain; • minimisation of waste discharges; and • maximisation of fulfilling the requirements of occupants’ health and wellbeing. Professionals in the built environment sector, for example, urban planners, architects, building scientists, engineers, facilities managers, performance assessors and policy makers, will play a significant role in delivering a sustainable built environment. Delivering a sustainable built environment needs an integrated approach and so it is essential for built environment professionals to have interdisciplinary knowledge in building design and management . Building and urban designers need to have a good understanding of the planning, design and management of the buildings in terms of low carbon and energy efficiency. There are a limited number of traditional engineers who know how to design environmental systems (services engineer) in great detail. Yet there is a very large market for technologists with multi-disciplinary skills who are able to identify the need for, envision and manage the deployment of a wide range of sustainable technologies, both passive (architectural) and active (engineering system),, and select the appropriate approach. Employers seek applicants with skills in analysis, decision-making/assessment, computer simulation and project implementation. An integrated approach is expected in practice, which encourages built environment professionals to think ‘out of the box’ and learn to analyse real problems using the most relevant approach, irrespective of discipline. The Design and Management of Sustainable Built Environment book aims to produce readers able to apply fundamental scientific research to solve real-world problems in the general area of sustainability in the built environment. The book contains twenty chapters covering climate change and sustainability, urban design and assessment (planning, travel systems, urban environment), urban management (drainage and waste), buildings (indoor environment, architectural design and renewable energy), simulation techniques (energy and airflow), management (end-user behaviour, facilities and information), assessment (materials and tools), procurement, and cases studies ( BRE Science Park). Chapters one and two present general global issues of climate change and sustainability in the built environment. Chapter one illustrates that applying the concepts of sustainability to the urban environment (buildings, infrastructure, transport) raises some key issues for tackling climate change, resource depletion and energy supply. Buildings, and the way we operate them, play a vital role in tackling global greenhouse gas emissions. Holistic thinking and an integrated approach in delivering a sustainable built environment is highlighted. Chapter two demonstrates the important role that buildings (their services and appliances) and building energy policies play in this area. Substantial investment is required to implement such policies, much of which will earn a good return. Chapters three and four discuss urban planning and transport. Chapter three stresses the importance of using modelling techniques at the early stage for strategic master-planning of a new development and a retrofit programme. A general framework for sustainable urban-scale master planning is introduced. This chapter also addressed the needs for the development of a more holistic and pragmatic view of how the built environment performs, , in order to produce tools to help design for a higher level of sustainability and, in particular, how people plan, design and use it. Chapter four discusses microcirculation, which is an emerging and challenging area which relates to changing travel behaviour in the quest for urban sustainability. The chapter outlines the main drivers for travel behaviour and choices, the workings of the transport system and its interaction with urban land use. It also covers the new approach to managing urban traffic to maximise economic, social and environmental benefits. Chapters five and six present topics related to urban microclimates including thermal and acoustic issues. Chapter five discusses urban microclimates and urban heat island, as well as the interrelationship of urban design (urban forms and textures) with energy consumption and urban thermal comfort. It introduces models that can be used to analyse microclimates for a careful and considered approach for planning sustainable cities. Chapter six discusses urban acoustics, focusing on urban noise evaluation and mitigation. Various prediction and simulation methods for sound propagation in micro-scale urban areas, as well as techniques for large scale urban noise-mapping, are presented. Chapters seven and eight discuss urban drainage and waste management. The growing demand for housing and commercial developments in the 21st century, as well as the environmental pressure caused by climate change, has increased the focus on sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). Chapter seven discusses the SUDS concept which is an integrated approach to surface water management. It takes into consideration quality, quantity and amenity aspects to provide a more pleasant habitat for people as well as increasing the biodiversity value of the local environment. Chapter eight discusses the main issues in urban waste management. It points out that population increases, land use pressures, technical and socio-economic influences have become inextricably interwoven and how ensuring a safe means of dealing with humanity’s waste becomes more challenging. Sustainable building design needs to consider healthy indoor environments, minimising energy for heating, cooling and lighting, and maximising the utilisation of renewable energy. Chapter nine considers how people respond to the physical environment and how that is used in the design of indoor environments. It considers environmental components such as thermal, acoustic, visual, air quality and vibration and their interaction and integration. Chapter ten introduces the concept of passive building design and its relevant strategies, including passive solar heating, shading, natural ventilation, daylighting and thermal mass, in order to minimise heating and cooling load as well as energy consumption for artificial lighting. Chapter eleven discusses the growing importance of integrating Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) into buildings, the range of technologies currently available and what to consider during technology selection processes in order to minimise carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. The chapter draws to a close by highlighting the issues concerning system design and the need for careful integration and management of RETs once installed; and for home owners and operators to understand the characteristics of the technology in their building. Computer simulation tools play a significant role in sustainable building design because, as the modern built environment design (building and systems) becomes more complex, it requires tools to assist in the design process. Chapter twelve gives an overview of the primary benefits and users of simulation programs, the role of simulation in the construction process and examines the validity and interpretation of simulation results. Chapter thirteen particularly focuses on the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation method used for optimisation and performance assessment of technologies and solutions for sustainable building design and its application through a series of cases studies. People and building performance are intimately linked. A better understanding of occupants’ interaction with the indoor environment is essential to building energy and facilities management. Chapter fourteen focuses on the issue of occupant behaviour; principally, its impact, and the influence of building performance on them. Chapter fifteen explores the discipline of facilities management and the contribution that this emerging profession makes to securing sustainable building performance. The chapter highlights a much greater diversity of opportunities in sustainable building design that extends well into the operational life. Chapter sixteen reviews the concepts of modelling information flows and the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM), describing these techniques and how these aspects of information management can help drive sustainability. An explanation is offered concerning why information management is the key to ‘life-cycle’ thinking in sustainable building and construction. Measurement of building performance and sustainability is a key issue in delivering a sustainable built environment. Chapter seventeen identifies the means by which construction materials can be evaluated with respect to their sustainability. It identifies the key issues that impact the sustainability of construction materials and the methodologies commonly used to assess them. Chapter eighteen focuses on the topics of green building assessment, green building materials, sustainable construction and operation. Commonly-used assessment tools such as BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED) and others are introduced. Chapter nineteen discusses sustainable procurement which is one of the areas to have naturally emerged from the overall sustainable development agenda. It aims to ensure that current use of resources does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Chapter twenty is a best-practice exemplar - the BRE Innovation Park which features a number of demonstration buildings that have been built to the UK Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes. It showcases the very latest innovative methods of construction, and cutting edge technology for sustainable buildings. In summary, Design and Management of Sustainable Built Environment book is the result of co-operation and dedication of individual chapter authors. We hope readers benefit from gaining a broad interdisciplinary knowledge of design and management in the built environment in the context of sustainability. We believe that the knowledge and insights of our academics and professional colleagues from different institutions and disciplines illuminate a way of delivering sustainable built environment through holistic integrated design and management approaches. Last, but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the chapter authors for their contribution. I would like to thank David Lim for his assistance in the editorial work and proofreading.

A probabilistic analysis of the future potential of evaporative cooling systems in a temperate climate

The probabilistic projections of climate change for the United Kingdom (UK Climate Impacts Programme) show a trend towards hotter and drier summers. This suggests an expected increase in cooling demand for buildings – a conflicting requirement to reducing building energy needs and related CO2 emissions. Though passive design is used to reduce thermal loads of a building, a supplementary cooling system is often necessary. For such mixed-mode strategies, indirect evaporative cooling is investigated as a low energy option in the context of a warmer and drier UK climate. Analysis of the climate projections shows an increase in wet-bulb depression; providing a good indication of the cooling potential of an evaporative cooler. Modelling a mixed-mode building at two different locations, showed such a building was capable of maintaining adequate thermal comfort in future probable climates. Comparing the control climate to the scenario climate, an increase in the median of evaporative cooling load is evident. The shift is greater for London than for Glasgow with a respective 71.6% and 3.3% increase in the median annual cooling load. The study shows evaporative cooling should continue to function as an effective low-energy cooling technique in future, warming climates.

Facilities management carbon footprints: an audit of critical elements of management and reporting

Concern for the environmental impact of organizations’ activities has led to the recognition and demand for organizations to manage and report on their carbon footprint. However, there is no limit as to the areas of carbon footprints required in such annual environmental reports. To deliver improvements in the quality of carbon footprint management and reporting, there is a need to identify the main elements of carbon footprint strategy that can be endorsed, supported and encouraged by facility managers. The study investigates carbon footprint elements managed and reported upon by facility manager in the UK. Drawing on a questionnaire survey of 256 facility managers in the UK, the key elements of carbon footprints identified in carbon footprint reports are examined. The findings indicate that the main elements are building energy consumption, waste disposal and water consumption. Business travel in terms of using public transport, air travel and company cars are also recognized as important targets and objectives for the carbon footprint strategy of several FM (facilities management) organizations.

Impact of city changes and weather on anthropogenic heat flux in Europe 1995–2015

How people live, work, move from place to place, consume and the technologies they use all affect heat emissions in a city which influences urban weather and climate. Here we document changes to a global anthropogenic heat flux (QF) model to enhance its spatial (30′′ × 30′′ to 0.5° × 0.5°) resolution and temporal coverage (historical, current and future). QF is estimated across Europe (1995–2015), considering changes in temperature, population and energy use. While on average QF is small (of the order 1.9–4.6 W m−2 across all the urban areas of Europe), significant spatial variability is documented (maximum 185 W m−2). Changes in energy consumption due to changes in climate are predicted to cause a 13% (11%) increase in QF on summer (winter) weekdays. The largest impact results from changes in temperature conditions which influences building energy use; for winter, with the coldest February on record, the mean flux for urban areas of Europe is 4.56 W m−2 and for summer (warmest July on record) is 2.23 W m−2. Detailed results from London highlight the spatial resolution used to model the QF is critical and must be appropriate for the application at hand, whether scientific understanding or decision making.

Electricity use in the commercial kitchen

Academic and industrial literature concerning the energy use of commercial kitchens is scarce. Electricity consumption data were collected from distribution board current transformers in a sample of fourteen UK public house-restaurants. This was set up to identify patterns of appliance use as well as to assess the total energy consumption of these establishments. The electricity consumption in the selected commercial kitchens was significantly higher than current literature estimates. On average, 63% of the premises’ electricity consumption was attributed to the catering activity. Key appliances that contributed to the samples average daily electricity consumption of the kitchen were identified as refrigeration (70 kWh, 41%), fryers (11 kWh, 13%), combination ovens (35 kWh, 12%), bain maries (27 kWh, 9%) and grills (37 kWh, 12%). Behavioural factors and poor maintenance were identified as major contributors to excessive electricity usage with potential savings of 70% and 45% respectively. Initiatives are required to influence operator behaviour, such as the expansion of mandatory energy labelling, improved feedback information and the use of behaviour change campaigns. Strict maintenance protocols and more appropriate sizing of refrigeration would be of great benefit to energy reduction.

A field study of urban microclimates in London

This paper aims to address the characteristics of urban microclimates that affect the building energy performance and implementation of the renewable energy technologies. An experimental campaign was designed to investigate the microclimate parameters including air and surface temperature, direct and diffuse solar irradiation levels on both horizontal and vertical surfaces, wind speed and direction in a dense urban area in London. The outcomes of this research reveal that the climatic parameters are significantly influenced by the attributes of urban textures, which highlight the need for both providing the microclimatic information and using them in buildings design stages. This research provides a valuable set of microclimatic information for a dense urban area in London. According to the outcomes of this research, the feasibility study for implementation of renewable energy technologies and the thermal/ energy performance assessment of buildings need to be conducted using the microclimatic information rather than the meteorological weather data mostly collected from non-urban environments.

Identifying behavioural predictors of small power electricity consumption in office buildings

It is widely accepted that there is a gap between design energy and real world operational energy consumption. The behaviour of occupants is often cited as an important factor influencing building energy performance. However, its consideration, both during design and operation, is overly simplistic, often assuming a direct link between attitudes and behaviour. Alternative models of decision making from psychology highlight a range of additional influential factors and emphasise that occupants do not always act in a rational manner. Developing a better understanding of occupant decision making could help inform office energy conservation campaigns as well as models of behaviour employed during the design process. This paper assesses the contribution of various behavioural constructs on small power consumption in offices. The method is based upon the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) which assumes that intention is driven by three factors: attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, but we also consider a fourth construct: habit measured through the Self- Report Habit Index (SRHI). A questionnaire was issued to 81 participants in two UK offices. Questionnaire results for each behavioural construct were correlated against each participant’s individual workstation electricity consumption. The intentional processes proposed by TPB could not account for the observed differences in occupants’ interactions with small power appliances. Instead, occupants were interacting with small power “automatically”, with habit accounting for 11% of the variation in workstation energy consumption. The implications for occupant behaviour models and employee engagement campaigns are discussed.

Cool roofs for passive cooling: performance in different climates and for different insulation levels in Italy

Roofs are severely hit by solar radiation in summer; hence the use of cool materials on the finishing layer provides a significant reduction in the heat flow entering the building, with sensible attenuation in the building cooling load. In this paper, a case study is presented, based on the dynamic simulation of an existing office building in Catania (southern Italy). Here, a part of the roof has been recently treated with a commercial cool paint, with the aim of improving thermal comfort in summer. Hence, the simulations represent a preliminary study that will allow assessing the expected effectiveness of the intervention. More in detail, the results of the simulations will be discussed in terms of both thermal comfort and energy savings, through the evaluation of parameters such as the roof surface temperature, the operative temperature and the cooling load for both conditions, i.e. with and without the cool paint. The paper also discusses the potential increase in the energy needs for winter heating, and looks at the overall annual balance in terms of primary energy; this is made by considering different climatic conditions and envelope characteristics. These aspects are usually not well highlighted in the current scientific literature.

Vägar till en halverad energianvändning i Dalarnas småhusbebyggelse

Denna rapport är en svensk sammanfattning av licentiatavhandlingen med titeln "Simple Question, Complex Answer. Pathways towards a 50% Decrease in Building Energy Use", som publicerades vid Uppsala Universitet i februari 2014. I denna rapport har jag samman-ställt det som jag anser vara de viktigaste resultaten ur ett länsperspektiv och rapporten riktar sig därför i första hand mot aktörer inom byggnadssektorn i Dalarna. Mer omfattande bild-material, diagram, tabeller och hänvisningar till källmaterial återfinns för den intresserade i licentiatavhandlingen. Min förhoppning är att denna sammanfattning kan ligga till grund för diskussioner och beslut om framtiden för Dalarnas småhusbestånd.

High performance green buildings

This work aims to study and analyze strategies and measures to improve energy performance in residential and service buildings, in order to minimize energy losses and energy consumption. Due to the high energy dependence of European Union (EU), including Portugal and Slovenia, and high percentage of energy consumption in the building sector, there was a need to adopt strategies at European level with ambitious goals. This came to force EU - Member States to take measures to achieve the proposed targets for energy consumption reduction. To this end, EU - Member States have adapted the laws to their needs and formed specialized agencies and qualified experts on energy certification, which somehow evaluate buildings according to their performance. In this study, the external characteristics of the building in order to meet its thermal needs and from there to survey the existing and possible constructive solutions to be used at the envelope will be examined, in order to increase comfort and reduce the need of use technical means of air conditioning. The possibility of passive heating and ventilation systems also will be discussed. These techniques are developed in parallel with the deployment and design of the building. In this manner, to reduce the energy consumption, various techniques and technologies exploit natural resources. Thus, appear the more sustainable and efficient buildings, so-called Green Buildings have been appeared. The study ends with the identification of measures used in several buildings, proving the economic return in the medium to long term, as well as the satisfaction of their users.

Recomendações para o desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta de suporte às primeiras decisões projetuais visando ao desempenho energético de edificações de escritório em clima quente

PEDRINI, Aldomar; SZOKOLAY, Steven. Recomendações para o desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta de suporte às primeiras decisões projetuais visando ao desempenho energético de edificações de escritório em clima quente. Ambiente Construído, Porto Alegre, v. 5, n. 1, p.39-54, jan./mar. 2005. Trimestral. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 04 out. 2010.

Técnicas de energia elétrica sustentável aplicadas em edificações

One of the majors concerns in society today is to decrease the environmental impact caused by human activities and natural resource exploration. From this need to be more careful with the environment arose, in the field of civil construction, the term sustainable building. Projects that use natural resources rationally, without ceasing to bring comfort and functionality for customers, are becoming more a reality. This paper presents the share of electric energy in a sustainable building, with the analysis of the available renewable energies used in a project, presentation of new constructive techniques and technologies that are constantly emerging to achieve greater energy efficiency, with an appropriate use of energy received, also a decrease of the energy consumed by some devices present in a residence or business

Análise de oportunidades de poligeração em edificações e cidades

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Sistemi per la climatizzazione mediante pompe di calore geotermiche e pali energetici

We need a large amount of energy to make our homes pleasantly warm in winter and cool in summer. If we also consider the energy losses that occur through roofs, perimeter walls and windows, it would be more appropriate to speak of waste than consumption. The solution would be to build passive houses, i.e. buildings more efficient and environmentally friendly, able to ensure a drastic reduction of electricity and heating bills. Recently, the increase of public awareness about global warming and environmental pollution problems have “finally” opened wide possibility in the field of sustainable construction by encouraging new renewable methods for heating and cooling space. Shallow geothermal allows to exploit the renewable heat reservoir, present in the soil at depths between 15 and 20 m, for air-conditioning of buildings, using a ground source heat pump. This thesis focuses on the design of an air-conditioning system with geothermal heat pump coupled to energy piles, i.e. piles with internal heat exchangers, for a typical Italian-family building, on the basis of a geological-technical report about a plot of Bologna’s plain provided by Geo-Net s.r.l. The study has involved a preliminary static sizing of the piles in order to calculate their length and number, then the project was completed making the energy sizing, where it has been verified if the building energy needs were met with the static solution obtained. Finally the attention was focused on the technical and economical validity compared to a traditional system (cost-benefit analysis) and on the problem of the uncertainty data design and their effects on the operating and initial costs of the system (sensitivity analysis). To evaluate the performance of the thermal system and the potential use of the piles was also used the PILESIM2 software, designed by Dr. Pahud of the SUPSI’s school.

Laboratory study of grouted macadams impregnated with mine waste geopolymeric binder

A new type of pavement has been gaining popularity over the last few years in Europe. It comprises a surface course with a semi-flexible material that provides significant advantages in comparison to both concrete and conventional asphalt, having both rut resistance and a degree of flexibility. It also provides good protection against the ingress of water to the foundation, since it has an impermeable surface. The semi-flexible material, generally known as grouted macadam, comprises an open-graded asphalt skeleton with 25% to 35% voids into which a cementitious slurry is grouted. This hybrid mixture provides good rut resistance and a surface highly resistant to fuel and oil spillage. Such properties allow it to be used in industrial areas, airports and harbours, where those situations are frequently associated with heavy and slow traffic. Grouted Macadams constitute a poorly understood branch of pavement technology and have generally been relegated to a role in certain specialist pavements whose performance is predicted on purely empirical evidence. Therefore, the main objectives of this project were related to better understanding the properties of this type of material, in order to predict its performance more realistically and to design pavements incorporating grouted macadam more accurately. Based on a standard mix design, several variables were studied during this project in order to characterise the behaviour of Grouted Macadams in general, and the influence of those variables on the fundamental properties of the final mixture. In this research project, one approach was used to the design of pavements incorporating Grouted Macadams: a traditional design method, based on laboratory determined of the stiffness modulus and the compressive strength.