Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / This study determined the status, in 2012, of the implementation of Sustainable solutions (SS) to commercial buildings in the City of Johannesburg. The term “going green” was seen as an alternative approach to business, but demonstrated necessity in the property industry. As greenhouse gas emissions drive the rising average global temperature at an alarming rate, the business environment cannot only be aware of the impact that business industries have on the livelihood of the growing population, but need to act promptly to ensure sustainability. Environmental sustainability is an important topic in decision making for businesses in South Africa and this study grouped renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) to create sustainable solutions as the main concept of environmental sustainability. Renewable energy refers to finding an energy source like the sun or wind, but the main focus is on the purpose of sustainability of the energy resource and the supply. Eskom obtains 97% of their electricity for South Africa from coal power plants, but the reality is that coal is a limited resource that will not be available indefinitely unlike renewable energy. Energy efficiency on the other hand focuses on reducing the energy requirements of commercial buildings. As this concept received sufficient attention in South Africa, the present study was conducted to obtain further information to drive energy efficient practices. With energy efficiency, making basic adjustments in the design of new buildings to use less electricity can greatly contribute to their longevity and reduce the overall running costs that in turn enhance the sustainability for organisations that own or manage properties. By gathering the principals for renewable energy from natural resources and implementing energy efficient practices, the concept of sustainable solutions was conceived. The implementation of sustainable solutions also increases the value of properties, fosters economic enhancement, fosters socioeconomic improvement and most importantly improves the environment by reducing carbon emissions.

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

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

International experience indicates that energy labelling programmes are rapidly evolving as a valuable tool for energy efficiency awareness and practice in the built environment. Four years after the launch of the South African labelling programme, Green Buildings for Africa (GBfA), it became evident that implementation was not successful. This study evaluates the contribution of a range of factors towards the sustained implementation and uptake of energy labelling programmes for commercial buildings based on a comparative appraisal of relevant international case studies and the GBfA. The analytical process is based on three types of energy labelling categories (mandatory energy audit, voluntary energy audit and voluntary benchmarking scheme) and two categories of factors (contextual and programme-specific). The key finding is that government involvement and support is critical, if not a prerequisite, for successful roll-out of an energy labelling programme. Key recommendation is that a local programme be initially based on a voluntary benchmark programme approach.

A construção civil, e mais especificamente os empreendimentos de base imobiliária, necessitam de grandes volumes de recursos concentrados em um curto período para o desenvolvimento de seus produtos, cujo payback é de horizonte largo, dependendo assim de ferramentas que permitam alavancar os empreendimentos para que os recursos sejam utilizados nas atividades fim das empresas deste setor. Desta forma, o setor ganha em produtividade, competitividade e agilidade, incluindo a diminuição da rotatividade de sua mão-de-obra. A securitização vem ao encontro dos interesses do setor por ser um sistema flexível para a captação dos recursos que possibilita o re-direcionamento de recursos da poupança brasileira para o mercado de empreendimentos de base imobiliária. É neste contexto que o presente trabalho apresenta a securitização de empreendimentos de base imobiliária, mais especificamente de edifícios de escritório voltados à locação, como um vetor de impulsão deste mercado a partir do momento que se torna uma alternativa de investimento atrativa aos poupadores, da mesma forma como é vista em países onde este já é um procedimento consagrado. Como o Brasil ainda tem um mercado incipiente, o mercado americano, que já apresenta maturidade, será utilizado como referência para as projeções que serão feitas acerca do desenvolvimento da securitização no Brasil. Com isto, com a projeção das expectativas para o mercado paulistano de edifícios de escritórios e com a demonstração da atratividade dos papéis, pretende-se mostrar que a securitização é um meio de funding2 que pode sustentar grande parte da demanda por recursos para a implantação de novos produtos deste mercado. / Construction industry, specifically, real state ventures, needs great amount of capital concentrated on a short period of time in order to develop its products, which have a long term payback. For that reason, this sector become dependant on methods that allows the leverage of undertakings, so the entrepreneurs’ resources can be employed on the their core business. Such methods allow this sector to have significant gains in terms of productivity, competitiveness and agility, including also the diminution of its employees’ turnover. The securitization comes across the interests of this sector, as it is a flexible financial resource’s gathering system that conducts to the steering of Brazilian’s savings accounts to the real state market. On this context, the present work introduces the real state ventures securitization, focused on office buildings, as an important tool for the development of this market, as it becomes an attractive investment opportunity when compared with the savings options available on the market. As the Brazilian market is still incipient, the American market, that shows more maturity, will be used as benchmark for projections concerning the securitization’s development on Brazil. This projection, combined with São Paulo’s office building market analysis and the demonstration of the attractiveness of the securities as an investment option, will be used to demonstrate that the securitization is a funding structure that can sustain great part of the capital demand for the development of new ventures on this market.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-159). / Daylighting is a powerful design element which can have a dramatic impact on people's perception of space, physical and psychological well-being as well as a building's annual and daily energy requirements. Understanding of the way daylight can penetrate a space , dramatize materials, create shadows and patterns, and is reflected and diffused gives an appreciation for light energy as a natural force. Historic precedents, and the response of contemporary architecture to the problems and possibilities of daylighting demonstrate the changes in values, and attitudes about the role of natural light and ventilation as they have been constructed in the landscape over a period of centuries. Three areas are investigated in considering the role of natural daylighting in the context of adaptive reuse. One is the historical evolution of atriums, their use as climate conditioners, as building form generators and as receptors of daylight. The second area is a qualitative and quantitative study of daylight. Topics explored are glazing location, diffusion and reflection elements, and psychological effects, impact on annual energy consumption and physical modeling. The third area of study is the development of a generic atrium piece which is the principal form and organizational generator of a design proposal for the reuse of a typical early 20th century warehouse building. / by John Stephen Crowley. / M.Arch.

Buildings have a significant impact on the environment due to the energy required for the manufacture of construction materials. The method of assessing the energy embodied in a product is known as energy analysis. Detailed office building embodied energy case studies are very rare. However, there is evidence to suggest that the energy requirements for the construction phase of commercial buildings, including the energy embodied in materials, is a significant component of the life cycle energy requirements. This thesis sets out to examine the current state of energy analysis, determine the national average energy intensities < i.e. embodied energy rates < for building materials and assess the significance of using national average energy intensities for the energy analysis of a case study office building. Likely ranges of variation in the building material embodied energy rates from the national averages are estimated and the resulting distribution for total embodied energy in the case study building simulated. Strategies for improving the energy analysis methods and data are suggested. Detailed energy analysis is shown to be a useful indicative method of quantifying the energy required for the construction of buildings.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-261). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management