published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

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published_or_final_version / Human Performance / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis I examine the natural building movement in South Africa in an attempt to determine the systemic influences that appear to confine it to a small market operating at the very edge of the mainstream building sector. I make use of the conceptual framework of the multi-level perspective to explore the interrelationships between natural building as a technological niche and the mainstream building sector as the dominant regime. I extend the concept of a technological niche by appending the term 'latent' to form the term 'latent technological niche', to describe a technology with sustainability credentials that fails to break into the mainstream market, despite achieving technological maturity and constant though minimal market share. The research objectives of this thesis are to: identify pathways for the natural building niche to move beyond its latent state; to determine how the translations of natural building practices to the building sector might occur; and how this might transform the building sector regime. I explore how action research involving knowledge sharing between multi-stakeholder, niche and regime actors might stimulate debate and subsequent action to overcome entry barriers; and serve as a catalyst to advance a latent technological niche beyond its confined market. I present an action research method, a 'latent technological mediation', of facilitated 1st and 2nd order social learning. This is used as a mechanism of tapping into the immediate knowledge of actors in the socio-technical regime. The purpose being to identify the external forces and internal processes of a latent technological niche. The status of a latent technological niche is assessed by comparing these processes in the context of external forces against seven processes, presented in this thesis. These seven processes are considered crucial for a technology to break into the mainstream market and are adapted from the internal processes of success, described in the literature on strategic niche management and the characteristics of a successful 'bounded socio-technical experiment' (BSTE) described in the conceptual work on BSTE's. The potential for natural building systems to enter the mainstream building sector, particularly in South Africa, is used as a case study to apply the latent technological mediation method. The findings of this research suggest that the mainstream building sector is undergoing a transition following the path of socio-techical transformation. The uncertainty introduced by the parallel system of informal settlement, which may drive transition along the more dramatic technological substitution or de-alignment and re-alignment transition pathways is briefly explored. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis ondersoek ek die natuurlike gebou beweging in Suid-Afrika in 'n poging om die sistemiese invloede te bepaal, wat neig om dit te beperk tot 'n klein mark teen die rand van die hoofstroom gebou sektor. Ek maak gebruik van die konseptuele raamwerk van die multi-vlak perspektief om die onderlinge verband tussen natuurlike geboue, as 'n tegnologiese nis, en die hoofstroom gebou sektor, as die dominante regime, te verken. Ek brei die konsep van 'n tegnologiese nis uit, deur die aanbring van die word 'latente' om die term 'latente tegnologiese nis' te vorm. 'n Latente tegnologie nis het volhoubaarheid potensiaal maar slaag nie daarin om in die hoofstroom mark in te breek nie, ten spyte van die bereiking van tegnologiese volwassenheid en 'n konstante maar minimale mark aandeel. Die navorsing doelwitte van hierdie tesis is om: roetes te identifiseer waarlangs die natuurlike gebou nis buite sy latente toestand kan beweeg; om te bepaal hoe die 'vertalings' van natuurlike gebou praktyke aan die gebou sektor kan voorkom; en hoe dit die gebou sektor regime kan verander. Ek bestudeer hoe aksie navorsing waarby kennis tussen verskeie belanghebbendes, nis en regime betrokkenes gedeel is, kan debatteer en die daaropvolgende aksie stimuleer inskrywing hindernisse te oorkom; en dien as 'n katalisator om 'n latente tegnologiese nis te bevorder buite sy beperkte mark. Ek bied 'n aksie-navorsing metode, 'n 'latente tegnologiese bemiddeling' van gefasiliteerde 1st en 2de order sosiale leerervaring aan. Dit dien as 'n meganisme van deling in die onmiddellike kennis van die spelers in die sosio-tegniese regime. Die doel is om die eksterne kragte en interne prosesse van 'n latente tegnologiese nis te identifiseer. Die status van 'n latente tegnologiese nis is beoordeel deur hierdie prosesse te vergelyk in die konteks van eksterne kragte teen sewe prosesse, wat in hierdie tesis aangebied is. Hierdie sewe prosesse word beskou as noodsaaklik vir 'n tegnologie om in die hoofstroom mark in te breek en is aangepas uit die interne prosesse van sukses, soos beskryf in die literatuur oor strategiese nis bestuur en die eienskappe van 'n suksesvolle 'begrensde sosio-tegniese eksperiment' (BSTE) beskryf in die konseptuele literatuur oor BSTE. Die potensiaal vir natuurlike gebou stelsels om die hoofstroom gebou sektor te betree, veral in Suid-Afrika, word gebruik as 'n gevallestudie om die latente tegnologiese bemiddeling metode toe te pas. Die bevindinge van die navorsing dui daarop dat die hoofstroom gebou sektor 'n verandering ondergaan op die pad van n sosio-tegniese transformasie. Die onsekerheid veroorsaak deur die parallelle informele nedersetting, wat 'n meer dramatiese tegnologiese substitusie, of ontsporing en herbelyning kan veroorsaak, word kortliks ondersoek.

A sustentabilidade como novo paradigma para as várias áreas da ciência e tecnologia é objeto de estudo do presente trabalho. Neste foram investigados os conceitos e o histórico referentes à sustentabilidade e sua repercussão na cadeia produtiva da construção civil, como deve ser a atuação dos profissionais envolvidos no processo, englobando desde o projeto arquitetônico até a demolição ou desmonte. Foram colocados ainda exemplos de obras sustentáveis no exterior e no Brasil. O autor acredita na sustentabilidade como um processo que requer o envolvimento de toda a sociedade, contribuindo para o diálogo entre os meios produtivos e o meio ambiente. Nesse sentido buscou-se aplicar alguns conceitos de sustentabilidade relacionados com o processo construtivo e a vida útil do imóvel, propondo um projeto arquitetônico para uma residência na região metropolitana do Recife / Sustainability as a new paradigm for the various areas of science and technology is the subject matter of this work. It investigates concepts and history related to sustainability and its impact on the construction supply chain, addressing the role of the professionals involved, covering from the architectural design to demolition or dismantling. Examples of sustainable construction in Brazil and abroad were placed. The author believes in sustainability as a process that requires the involvement of the whole society, contributing to the dialogue between the production and the environment. In this sense some concepts of sustainability-related construction process and property lifetime were applied proposing an architectural design for a residence in the metropolitan area of Recife

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Breaking Through the First Cost Barriers of Sustainable Planning, Design, and Construction John W. Mogge Jr. 377 Pages Directed by Dr. Rita Oberle The research integrates elements of the bodies of knowledge for sustainability, planning, design, and construction to create an understanding of green project first cost drivers. It extends conceptual models for sustainable infrastructure and the built environment process by creating a framework based linkage to analyze first cost impacts of sustainable project planning, design, and construction decisions. The framework functions as an analytical bridge between the built environment process and sustainability and is the principal contribution of this research. Through a preliminary analysis of fourteen projects, the work draws out relevant planning, materials and methods, and estimating and scheduling best practices and guiding principles. The work then proposes a first cost impact framework derived from the preliminary analysis as a decision support tool and tests the framework using an expert system derived linguistic database. The test results support the functionality of the framework. The test linguistic database was developed through an interdisciplinary professional expert practitioner interview process using common green project planning, design and construction strategies. The qualitative, interpretative, multi-criteria analysis of the data used fuzzy set theory and presents findings helpful in understanding green project first cost drivers. The work concludes with an assessment and a discussion of parallel research, and ten recommended areas for further research.

With few studies focusing on the construction of green buildings in South Africa, there is a need to understand the reasoning behind the development of residential estates that have classified themselves as “eco”. The aim of this study was to establish whether or not residential estates that market themselves as “eco” are in fact sustainable. This study looks at the environmental sustainability of residential eco-estates (n=7) and compares them to non-eco-estates (n=7) in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The study used content analysis to evaluate the marketing material of the 14 estates sampled for the study. The data gathered through content analysis was then used to determine the environmental sustainability for each estate using an adapted version of the Sustainable Building Assessment Tool. The findings indicate that although the residential eco-estates had higher environmental sustainability scores when compared with non-eco-estates, the overall score for many of the eco-estates was too low for them to be classified as sustainable. The results of the study also highlight that a number of the eco-estates use greenwashing methods to attract potential homeowners. By selling nature, these estates are able to attract homeowners who may be interested in protecting the environment. When looking at these findings, it is possible to assume that the development of residential eco-estates has less to do with the sustainability of nature and has more to do with a desire to increase profits. In order to achieve environmental sustainability, it is therefore important to provide guidelines for developers to use if they are genuinely interested in creating estates that focus on the protection of the environment and natural resources. These guidelines can be developed through frameworks that exist to evaluate the sustainability of developments. Although much of the focus of this research is placed on the developers of each estate, it is important to acknowledge that the individuals who live within these estates are just as responsible for achieving sustainability. / Geography / M.A. (Geography)

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T17:57:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_eugenio_leicht.pdf: 2721360 bytes, checksum: 85c33a9ea26fe3c1941bf6b73941a893 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-25 / Sustainability as a new paradigm for the various areas of science and technology is the subject matter of this work. It investigates concepts and history related to sustainability and its impact on the construction supply chain, addressing the role of the professionals involved, covering from the architectural design to demolition or dismantling. Examples of sustainable construction in Brazil and abroad were placed. The author believes in sustainability as a process that requires the involvement of the whole society, contributing to the dialogue between the production and the environment. In this sense some concepts of sustainability-related construction process and property lifetime were applied proposing an architectural design for a residence in the metropolitan area of Recife / A sustentabilidade como novo paradigma para as várias áreas da ciência e tecnologia é objeto de estudo do presente trabalho. Neste foram investigados os conceitos e o histórico referentes à sustentabilidade e sua repercussão na cadeia produtiva da construção civil, como deve ser a atuação dos profissionais envolvidos no processo, englobando desde o projeto arquitetônico até a demolição ou desmonte. Foram colocados ainda exemplos de obras sustentáveis no exterior e no Brasil. O autor acredita na sustentabilidade como um processo que requer o envolvimento de toda a sociedade, contribuindo para o diálogo entre os meios produtivos e o meio ambiente. Nesse sentido buscou-se aplicar alguns conceitos de sustentabilidade relacionados com o processo construtivo e a vida útil do imóvel, propondo um projeto arquitetônico para uma residência na região metropolitana do Recife