Environmental protection has become increasingly concerned by from the government, general public and private sector in recent decades. Recently, the concept of green or sustainability, which has come out as a more comprehensive concept than environment conservation, is getting more concern and discussion as well. This dissertation starts with an introduction on the background, scope of study, methodology and data collection. Then, it goes to literature review on concept of green building, environmental management system and marketing strategies as well as development of environmental protection and green building accreditation in Hong Kong. After that, a case study on 248 Queen’s Road East will be conducted for identifying its existing environmental measures and potential for improvement on green management system. Face-to-face interviews and a questionnaire survey were conducted to collect the relevant information or opinions from the property manager and tenants for exploring the progress of improvement in their environmental management and performance as well as its impact to enhancement of competitiveness to the building through achieving green building accreditation. / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

With the growing urbanized population, cities have become a major contributor to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. The urbanization processes also cause local climate change through excessive anthropogenic heat emission and modification of the land biophysical properties. The resultant urban heat island (UHI) effects and aggravating human heat stress have become key environmental issues in city management. Cities can be designed to be climate-conscious and energy-efficient not only to contribute to urban sustainability, but also address global climate-change issues at the local level. Green roof presents a feasible strategy for climate-conscious urban design (CCUD). With the notable thermal effects in microclimate amelioration and energy conservation, it has great potential to help cities tackle local and global climate issues. Understanding the status and underlying mechanism of green-roof thermal effects can inform optimal design and management, and provide scientific basis to promote green-roof application. This study formulates a multidisciplinary framework to assess green-roof thermal effects at building, neighborhood and district scales, based on a case study in Hong Kong. Firstly, the building-scale field measurement found that the 484 m^2 experimental extensive green roof can significantly ameliorate rooftop microclimate and cut building energy consumption. The peak surface and air temperature can be reduced by 11℃ and 4.5℃ on sunny summer days, and 7.2℃ and 2.3℃ on cloudy days, leading to an electrical energy saving of 2.80×〖10〗^4 kWh for a summer of air conditioning. The thermal performance was sensitive to background environmental factors. Solar radiation and relative humidity governs the seasonal and diurnal variation of air and surface temperatures reduction. Substrate moisture can significantly regulate the subsurface temperature but has limited effect on evapotranspiration (ET). Based on correlation and scenario analyses, this study has formulated an irrigation scheme which could balance between plant growth, thermal performance and water efficiency to achieve sustainable management of tropical extensive green roofs. Secondly, the neighborhood-scale modeling revealed that greening all roofs in residential communities can extend the cooling effects from the rooftop to the entire neighborhood. Urban design factors such as building height, distance, site coverage and orientation can affect the diurnal, horizontal and vertical pattern of the “cool-islands” created by green roofs. Green roof can also enhance the rooftop thermal comfort by alleviating the intensity and duration of heat stress. The findings suggest that compact cities can green the roof and podium space to provide thermally comfortable and recreational venues for urban residents. Thirdly, the district-scale cost-benefit analysis found that large-scale construction of green-roof infrastructure in Hong Kong can be well justified by its thermal benefits. The extensive green roof has an annual monetary benefit of HK$0.9–1.7 billion, and the intensive, HK$1.4–2.6 billion, in terms of energy saving, CO2 and air pollutant reduction. The life-cycle benefit-cost ratio (BCA) is 3.7–7 for extensive green roof, and 1.4–2.7 for the intensive, indicating the high cost-effectiveness of both types, with the extensive being more economically attractive than the intensive. / published_or_final_version / Geography / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Cheng Bo-ki. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-153). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.10 / Chapter chapter 2 --- Background & Literature --- p.15 / Chapter 2.1 --- Why Environmental Design? --- p.15 / Comfort and Energy --- p.15 / "Our Problems: Energy, Environment, and Health" --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2 --- Knowledge in Environmental Design --- p.27 / What is Environmental Design? --- p.27 / Current knowledge in Environmental Design: Thermal Performance --- p.30 / Thermal Studies in Hong Kong --- p.37 / Chapter 2.3 --- Summary and Propositions --- p.42 / Chapter chapter 3 --- Scale Model Study --- p.47 / Chapter 3.1 --- Test Modules Application --- p.47 / Chapter 3.2 --- Research Methodology & Experimental Setup --- p.54 / Testing Facility in CUHK --- p.54 / Solarimeter Substitute --- p.58 / Chapter 3.3 --- Experimental Series --- p.61 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Envelope Colour --- p.61 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Windows --- p.73 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Shading --- p.75 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Thermal Mass --- p.80 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- Orientations --- p.83 / Chapter 3.3.6 --- "Combined Effects ofThermal Mass, Windows and Orientations" --- p.85 / Chapter 3.3.7 --- "Combined Effects ofThermal Mass, Shading and Orientations" --- p.88 / Chapter 3.4 --- Summary of Experiments --- p.90 / Chapter 3.5 --- Predicting Indoor Air Temperature --- p.93 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Development of Predictive Formulas --- p.93 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Parametric Study of Envelope Colour --- p.97 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- Parametric Study of Window Shading --- p.100 / Chapter chapter 4 --- Field Study --- p.104 / Chapter 4.1 --- Description of Housing Unit: Concord-I Block --- p.104 / Chapter 4.2 --- Experimental Setup --- p.105 / Chapter 4.3 --- Result of Field Measurement --- p.108 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Perform ance of top-most floor --- p.108 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Performance of Individual Rooms --- p.109 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Effect of Orientation --- p.110 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Indoor Thermal Comfort --- p.113 / Chapter 4.4 --- Summary of Field Measurement --- p.116 / Chapter chapter 5 --- Thermal Performance Prediction --- p.118 / Chapter chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.126 / Appendix 1 --- p.131 / Appendix 2 --- p.133 / Appendix 3 --- p.140

Currently there is a growing pressure on energy efficiency for new buildings in the UK and worldwide. This has arisen partly due to the increasing awareness of the public for sustainable building construction. In addition, there is pressure on building materials manufacturers, due to new government regulations and legislations that are targeting energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions in new buildings. This research work reports on unfired clay building materials (unfired clay bricks) technology for sustainable building construction. The technology aims at the reduction of the high energy input, especially that arising from firing clay bricks in kilns. The research has investigated the use of lime or Portland cement as an activator to an industrial by-product (Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag-GGBS) to stabilise Lower Oxford Clay (LOC). Portland cement was used in the formulation of the unfired clay brick tests specimens predominantly as a control. The development of an unfired clay brick in this current work is considered by the researcher as a significant scientific breakthrough for the building industry. Another breakthrough is the fact that only about 1.5% lime was used for GGBS activation. This is a very low level of usage of lime that is not comparable to, or sufficient for, most road construction applications, where far less strength values are needed and where 3-8% lime is required for effective soil stabilisation. Hence, the final pricing of the unfired clay brick is expected to be relatively low. Industrial scale brick specimens were produced during two separate industrial trials. The first trial was at Hanson Brick Company Ltd, Bedfordshire, UK, while the second was carried out at PD Edenhall Ltd, Bridgend, South Wales, UK. The results clearly demonstrate that all key parameters such as compressive strength, thermal properties and durability were within the acceptable engineering standards for clay masonry units. From the environmental and sustainability analysis results, the unfired clay material has shown energy-efficiency and suggests a formidable economical alternative to the firing of clay building components. This study is one of the earliest attempts to compare fired and unfired clay technology, and also to combine energy use and CO2 emission for unfired clay bricks relative to those bricks used in mainstream construction. This is an attempt to come up with one parameter rating. The overall results suggest that the spinoff from this technology is an invaluable resource for civil engineers and other built environment professionals who need quick access to up-to-date and accurate information about the qualities of various building and construction materials.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Architecture / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Wong Ho Man, William. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2002-2003, design report." / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.P.02 / Chapter 2 --- Project Vision --- p.P.03 / Chapter 3 --- Project Objectives --- p.P.04 / Chapter 4 --- Research Plan and Methodology --- p.P.05 / Chapter 5 --- Developed Wind Phenomenons --- p.P.07 / Chapter 6 --- Investigation Process and Findings --- p.P.17 / Chapter 7 --- Design Development --- p.P.24 / Chapter 8 --- Final Design --- p.P.33 / Chapter 9 --- Conclusion --- p.P.41

abstract / Architecture / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

In the area of indoor built environment modelling, the main focus was usually put on the accuracy of the modelled equipment within the given environment. There was not enough attention placed on the modelling of occupants inside the building, who represent the ultimate end?users and should be the most important element of an indoor built environment model. This deficiency was mainly due to the difficulties of modelling human behaviour with the traditional mathematical modelling methods usually adopted in the field. Therefore, in order to model the occupants more effectively, a more appropriate alternative approach is needed. This thesis examined the suitability of agent?based modelling and simulation (ABMS) for the indoor built environment. Philosophies of ABMS for the built environment were discussed, with the natural flow of progression stages in indoor built environment models outlined and explored, showing the need for switching a problem of simplicity to one in which a complex organised system was defined. Scenarios of single active agent case in ABMS for indoor built environment were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, with the finding that ABMS was versatile in modelling different types of occupants. It provided an illustration of the difference between people with different sensation time, and estimated energy savings between occupants with varied understanding of the environment. A classification scheme for different types of indoor built environment models with different levels of complexities was proposed and discussed. Based on the classification scheme, models with different levels of complexities were applied to the same building to explore the feasibility and practicality of the scheme. It was found that the simulation results provided insightful figures on probable energy consumption for different types of occupants and their crowd behaviour when interactions between occupants were considered. Findings included the amount of energy saved (around 10%) by a knowledgeable occupant over a less informed one, and the tendency for the majority (?66%) of occupants trying to save energy by assessing the environment themselves under different conditions. To further assist building management and the implementation of ABMS approach in built environment for simulations, the concepts of geographic information system (GIS) were modified for applications in the indoor environment, based on its similarity with ABMS for a grid?based environment. A prototype program was developed to test the applicability of the proposed concepts, with OPC connectivity for connections to real?world equipment. It was found that the idea of indoor GIS helps to solve problems such as the facility layout problem or the difficulties of information storage/retrieval in facility management, and this concept also integrated well with ABMS. With the successful modelling of different types of occupants and simulation results consistent with real data, it can be concluded from the work that ABMS is a promising approach for future generations of indoor built environment models. Also, with the inspiring framework of indoor GIS, the combination of ABMS and GIS in an integrated platform will certainly bring a powerful tool to the field. / published_or_final_version / Mechanical Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Li Wai Man Ruth. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 1998-99, design report." / Includes bibliographical references (leave 67 (last gp.)). / Acknowledgement / Chapter 1.0 --- Site Analysis / Chapter 2.0 --- Urban Startegy / Chapter 3.0 --- Design Concept and Develpoment / Chapter 4.0 --- Program / Chapter 5.0 --- Evironmental Issues / Chapter 6.0 --- Secnario of Center / Chapter 7.0 --- Conclusion/Comments / Chapter 8.0 --- Presentationand Final Products / Appendix / Chapter - --- Precedents / Blibiography / Attachment / Chapter - --- Reserch and Programming Report