Improving the energy performance of existing building refurbishment has been identified as one of the key measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and combat climate change. According to Environmental Protection Department, buildings in Hong Kong take up almost 90% of urban electricity consumption. Sustainable building refurbishment not only can help decrease energy consumption but may also improve building’s overall condition, and thus prolong its life, uplift the living conditions, ensure better health and safety as well as minimize the negative effects to environment. To respond to the energy emission reduction, many researchers focus on technical improvements through various refurbishment methods. However, there is a research gap in determining the appropriate refurbishment solutions for high-rise residential buildings in developed cities like Hong Kong. The challenge is aggravated as there are a number of owners and occupants in multi-storey residential buildings and their behaviour can be very different. Albeit more and more attentions have been attributed to human behaviours and occupant satisfaction, little has been done to examine their effects to the choices and success of sustainable refurbishment solutions. This study aims to systematically analyse the effect of human behaviour to the satisfaction of sustainable refurbishment by setting up a unified model so as to maximize the opportunity for emission reduction without sacrificing the satisfaction of owners and occupants. Literature review was first conducted to attain the knowledge of sustainable refurbishment and human behaviour. Then, a list of potential sustainable building refurbishment method items was compiled under five criteria through literature review. In order to further examine the suitability of sustainable building refurbishment methods in Hong Kong scenario from the perspective of owners and occupants, a questionnaire survey was administered. Following that, literature review and interviews were carried out to identify a set of critical success factors (CSFs) of electing sustainable refurbishment strategies as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) of a sustainable building refurbishment scheme. Based on that, another questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the occupants’ perception to the relative importance of the identified CSFs and KPIs. Finally, a structural equation model was set up to unveil the relationships between occupants’ satisfaction and project success, and the findings were validated through expert interviews. The results shows that disruption is the most important factors affecting occupants’ decisions, followed by Management and Organization; Comfort; Cost; and Health and Safety. The technological and environmental accomplishments are proven to be the most important KPIs to the success of a sustainable building refurbishment project. The model developed can help decision-makers select on suitable sustainable building refurbishment methods to meet the social expectations of occupants while achieving the carbon emission target. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

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Conservation is recognized as one important was Americans can lower their energy use and save money. The purpose of this research was to determine the energy and economic savings which 50 low and moderate income level homeowners in Delaware Count could generate by implementing nine conservation measures. The conservation measures included:1. In the winter turn down the thermostat during the day and night if the present setting is greater than 68° F.2. Reduce the hot water heater setting to 100°-120°F.3. Caulk and weatherstrip where needed.4. Insulate the hot water pipes and the furnace heat ducts.5. Install shower flow controllers.6. Insulate and weatherstrip the attic recess.7. Turn off the furnace pilot light during the summer.8. Insulate the hot water heater if in an unheated basement or garage.9. Seal the chimney in the winter when not used.The nine conservation measures were recommended by the researcher on a house-by-house basis. The researcher found that the type of heating fuel used in the home, the presence or absence of certain appliances in the home, the past involvement (if any) of the homeowner in other conservation programs, and the lifestyle practices of the household determined which of the nine conservation measures could be implemented in the home. The researcher estimated the amount of energy (BTU’s) and money which could be saved by implementing the conservation measures which were recommended for each homeowner and supplied this information to the study group.This investigation revealed that all 50 homeowners would have payback periods of less than one year if the conservation measures were implemented with short-lived material requiring annual replacement with the average savings being approximately $97.00. When longer-lived materials which would last five years or more were employed, only 27 of the homeowners would have payback periods shorter than one year unless homeowners for whom a furnace thermostat setback had been recommended did so by more than one degree Fahrenheit. The investigation revealed that when the thermostat was turned down three degrees Fahrenheit 40 homeowners would have payback periods less than one year and that 43 would have payback period of shorter than one year if a six degree Fahrenheit setback was employed. / Department of Architecture

Summary: Chapter 1. Cultural continuity and the archaeologist's use of ethnographic analogy. There can be no doubt of the usefulness to New Zealand archaeologists of the confident knowledge that only Polynesians occupied this country, and that they did so for only a comparatively short time. While arguments for Melanesian or Western Polynesian cultural influence, or even a three or four thousand year time span may be noted, the widely held view of cultural continuity and a date for initial settlement perhaps a little more than a thousand years ago, is of crucial importance to the way archaeologists in this country view their primary information. This thesis explores the implications of the �confidence in the continuity of culture� by employing the �direct historical� ethnographic analogy. In addition, this work is also concerned with the �general comparative� ethnographic analogy. The difference between the terms �direct historical� and �general comparative� is significant not only for the variety of methods employed, but also because of the distinctiveness of their limitations. The �direct historical� analogy can be used only when there is demonstrable or assumed direct cultural continuity between archaeological information - the prehistoric group - and the ethnographic analogue. �General comparative� analogy draws upon a wide variety of cultural and behavioural models to generate hypotheses and interpretations of value to the archaeologist. Ascher (1961) restricts his �new analogy� to those archaeological areas for which historical continuity to the ethnographic present cannot be demonstrated. It is clear, however, that the concept of the general comparative analogy is more useful: it is frequently valuable to draw on a wide range of ethnographic observations and generalisations to reinforce particular historical analogues, and to offer interpretations for archaeological data for which there is no direct ethnographic insight. The problems of ethnographic analogy have recently come under some scrutiny. This examination involves what is perhaps the central methodological and theoretical issue for archaeology: the relation of excavated data to whatever model or framework is used in interpretation. A major result of this new look at the ethnographic analogy is the recognition that ethnographic observations do not provide the only source of interpretative hypotheses. A more eclectic approach is now favoured and ecology and the behavioural sciences are explored for insight into archaeological data, while systems theory and other frameworks are used in analysis. For example, Anderson (1973) uses a competition model developed by ecologists to explain changes in size frequency and species composition in four stratified midden sites. Clearly the notion that archaeology depends on ethnographic analogy for interpretation is no longer tenable. None the less, ethnographic analogy does remain the most important single source of interpretative models for archaeology...

Thesis (M.Arch.)--Carleton University (Canada), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2008. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Aug. 27, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-59).

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-60).