Bibliography: leaves 172-182. / viii, 183 leaves, [96] p. : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Proposes that there are fundamental and inadequately recognised differences between architectural practice and the basis of much design advice about environmental issues in house design. Concludes by discussing the implications of these differences for understanding how environmental issues are currently addressed in house design in Australia. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Architecture, 2000

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Building structures have a major impact on the quality of the macro-climates of the world, in particular in terms of pollution and environmental costs associated with their creation, operation and maintenance. Emerging global trends to make buildings more efficient, effective and sustainable, led to the question can one establish how sustainable existing buildings are? Building rating tools like LEED, BREEAM and Green Star, can already be used to rate and certify buildings in terms of their environmental performance and sustainability, but seem to fall short of establishing true overall building performance sustainability. As an architect, the researcher was involved in a project to develop a process for the Provincial Government Western Cape to comply with the Government Immovable Asset Management Act, Act no.19 of 2007 (GIAMA). The problem statement of this study links to the objective to comply with GIAMA, which requires that all government buildings be assessed in terms of their sustainability. This led to a number of research questions being asked. The first of these questions are what can be learnt from currently available rating systems and would it be possible to track and monitor the sustainability performance of a building over time. This triggered a series of related questions: What role can benchmarking play in establishing and tracking a building’s sustainability over time? How can benchmarking help to identify which part of a building’s overall sustainability is most in need of resourcing, to bring it closer to overall sustainability? How can capital and maintenance expense budgets associated with the building life-cycle be effectively utilised to bring buildings closer to overall sustainability? How can the availability of detailed information pertaining to the costs and benefits of green investments in existing buildings help building owners to identify the best initiatives to invest in? The methodology used in this study to answer the above questions is based on two research approaches. The first part made use of a literature review to establish and define the knowledge framework to be used in the second case study portion of the study. The methodology used for the case study was based on applied research, where the real life problems associated with the development of a suitability benchmarking process for the PGWC was documented and assessed. The results of the study found that there exist a missing link between theoretical knowledge of sustainability benchmarking and the legislative requirement of GIAMA and that this missing link is the standardised accurate and verifiable data required for the benchmarking process. In addition to this it was also found that the social aspects of buildings are generally neglected. A universal standard for collection of the required data is also needed. The study also highlighted that a general misperception exist that Environmental Sustainability is synonymous with the Sustainability paradigm. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Bou strukture het 'n groot impak op die gehalte van die makro-streke van die wêreld. Veral in terme van besoedeling en die ekologiese koste wat verband hou met die ontwikkeling, werking en onderhoud daarvan. Globale opkomende tendense om geboue meer doeltreffend en volhoubaar te maak, het gelei tot die vraag: Hoe kan 'n mens die volhoubaarheid van 'n bestaande gebou vasstel? 'n Aantal bou-graderings-stelsels, soos LEED, BREEAM en Green Star, kan reeds gebruik word om geboue te gradeer en sertifiseer in terme van hul omgewingsvolhoubaarheid, maar skiet te kort ten opsigte van algehele volhoubaarheid van ʼn gebou. As ʼn argitek was die navorser betrokke by ʼn projek om ʼn proses te ontwikkel vir die Provinsiale Regering van die Wes-Kaap (PGWK) om te voldoen aan die Wet op die Bestuur van Onroerende Regeringsbates, Wet no. 19 van 2007. Die probleemstelling van hierdie studie koppel aan die vereiste om te voldoen aan Wet 19 van 2007, wat vereis dat alle regeringsgeboue geassesseer word ingevolge hul volboubaarheid . Dit het gelei tot 'n aantal navorsingsvrae: Eerstens, watter lesse kan geleer word uit die bestaande bou-graderings-stelsels en tweedens, is dit moontlik om op die volhoubaarheid van 'n gebou te monitor en gradeer oor tyd? Dit het tot verwante vrae gelei, naamlik: Watter rol die stel van maatstawe kan speel om die volhoubaarheid van ʼn gebou te monitor? Hoe kan die stel van maatstawe bepaal watter aspekte van 'n gebou die meeste hulpbronne benodig, ten einde dit nader aan algehele volhoubaarheid te bring? Kan die kapitaal- en instandhoudingsbegrotings, wat verband hou met die lewens-siklus van die gebou, effektief gebruik word om ʼn gebou nader aan volhoubaarheid te bring? Hoe kan die beskikbaarheid van inligting met betrekking tot die koste en voordele van groen beleggings van bestaande geboue, gebou-eienaars help om die beste inisiatiewe te identifiseer om in te belê? Die metode wat in hierdie studie gebruik is om bogenoemde vrae te antwoord, is gebaseer op twee navorsings benaderings. Die eerste deel van hierdie studie het gebruik gemaak van 'n literatuuroorsig om ʼn kennisraamwerk te definieer en te vestig, wat dan in die tweede deel van die studie, ʼn gevallestudie, gebruik word. Die metode wat gebruik is vir die gevalle studie is gebaseer op toegepaste navorsing, waar die werklike probleme wat verband hou met die ontwikkeling van 'n geskikte volhoubaarheid maatstawings proses vir die PRWK gedokumenteer en geassesseer is. Die resultate van die studie was die bevinding dat daar 'n vermiste skakel bestaan tussen die teoretiese kennis ten opsigte van ‘n maatstawings stelsel vir volhoubaarheid en die wetlike vereiste van Wet 19 van 2007. Die vermiste skakel is dat gestandariseerde, accurate en verifieerbare data bemodig word vir die maatstawings proses. Daar is ook gevind dat die sosiale impakte van geboue verwaarloos word. Die studie stel voor dat ʼn universele standaard benodig word vir die versameling van die vereiste data. Die studie het ook n belangrike observasie gemaak dat daar 'n algemene wanopvatting in die industrie bestaan dat Omgewingsvolhoubaarheid sinoniem is met die Volhoubaarheid paradigma.

Within the design of any building, there is a requirement for designers to understand the intended purposes of the building and the elements that influence performance. These elements can be as tangible as providing a lecture hall within a university or relatively intangible such as the environmental temperatures of the rooms. The elements involved are generally recognised within the design industry and a combined force of engineers, architects, and specialist advisors work together to ensure all of the elements are in place for each new design. However, one element affecting performance that has not yet been comprehensively covered (at least for many building types) is that relating to occupant movement and the influence this has on experience and hence performance. For example, the number of times people have to negotiate cross-flow environments in a train station before becoming agitated is unknown. Also, the average distance people will walk through a shopping centre before becoming tired and ending the activity is unknown. Even so, they will both be impacted upon by the design and they will both reflect back on the performance of the design. Before starting this research, it was realised by the research engineer that there was only a limited understanding and application of people flow analyses within industry and, where it existed, it was solely related to transport terminals, pedestrian walkways/crossings, sports stadia arrivals/egress, and evacuation analyses.

Buildings are directly responsible for 40% of the final energy use in most developed economies and for much more if indirect requirements are considered. This results in huge impacts which affect the environmental balance of our planet.<p>However, most current building energy assessments focus solely on operational energy overlooking other energy uses such as embodied and transport energy. Embodied energy comprises the energy requirements for building materials production, construction and replacement. Transport energy represents the amount of energy required for the mobility of building users.<p>Decisions based on partial assessments might result in an increased energy demand during other life cycle stages or at different scales of the built environment. Recent studies have shown that embodied and transport energy demands often account for more than half of the total lifecycle energy demand of residential buildings. Current assessment tools and policies therefore overlook more than 50% of the life cycle energy use.<p>This thesis presents a comprehensive life cycle energy analysis framework for residential buildings. This framework takes into account energy requirements at the building scale, i.e. the embodied and operational energy demands, and at the city scale, i.e. the embodied energy of nearby infrastructures and the transport energy of its users. This framework is implemented through the development, verification and validation of an advanced software tool which allows the rapid analysis of the life cycle energy demand of residential buildings and districts. Two case studies, located in Brussels, Belgium and Melbourne, Australia, are used to investigate the potential of the developed framework.<p>Results show that each of the embodied, operational and transport energy requirements represent a significant share of the total energy requirements and associated greenhouse gas emissions of a residential building, over its useful life. The use of the developed tool will allow building designers, town planners and policy makers to reduce the energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions of residential buildings by selecting measures that result in overall savings. This will ultimately contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the built environment. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished