Space conditioning and lighting together account for about a third of end-use energy consumption in residential buildings in Hong Kong. Previous research shows that such energy consumption can be significantly reduced by employing energy-efficient building envelope design. However, despite that fact, the envelopes of many residential buildings in Hong Kong are designed in ways that impair building energy performance. For example, most residential buildings in Hong Kong have single-glazed windows and solar-absorbing roofs, many leak airs, and some have no external wall insulation or exterior shading. There are many energy-efficient envelope (EEE) design measures that improve overall building energy efficiency, but their selection has been widely recognized as a difficult task for design decision-makers, as it requires good engineering judgment and substantial building performance data. Apart from the energy considerations in EEE design, the reasons why professionals do or do not incorporate EEE design measures voluntarily into building design have not been thoroughly investigated. The majority of previous studies have focused on evaluating design alternatives after the design decision is made, but largely overlook the issue of informing the design before the decision-making process. The aim of this research is to inform design decision-making for selecting appropriate EEE measures for residential buildings in Hong Kong. The research included three major interrelated steps. Firstly, a comprehensive literature review was conducted of the energy-related parameters and non-energy-related factors critical to the selection of EEE design measures in the Hong Kong context. Secondly, the influential design parameters identified from the literature review were used for detailed parametric simulation and analysis. Their effects on building energy performance were evaluated, and their relationships with selected outputs were analysed. Thirdly, a survey was set up to investigate the perceptions of building professionals about EEE design decision-making criteria and factors affecting the adoption of EEE designs. Taken together, these three study components contribute to the development of a decision support framework that buttresses the effective selection of appropriate EEE design measures for low-energy residential buildings in Hong Kong. The framework shortlists the critical parameters in EEE design, highlights their effects on building energy performance, points out the drivers and barriers to adoption, and suggests strategies to expedite the adoption of those measures. The findings should support the effective comparison and selection of EEE design measures for delivering low-energy residential buildings in Hong Kong. They should also help to achieve the targets of relevant industry and government programmes in Hong Kong for expediting the adoption of EEE design measures. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

The pressure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has become increasingly obvious due to the need to alleviate the impact of climate change. As the second largest GHG emitter in the world, the building sector should play an active role in reducing GHG emissions. Particular attention should be directed to existing buildings not only because of the amount of emissions caused by inefficient buildings but also due to the existence of a variety of sustainable refurbishment solutions for different levels and stages of building refurbishment. The emission reduction performance of different sustainable refurbishment options may vary enormously as a result of different building design conditions. With the majority of residential properties being high-rise buildings, the most suitable sustainable refurbishment options for a sub-tropical city like Hong Kong are yet to be fully investigated. The opportunity to reduce emission may not be high without a tool to help the owners, occupants and consultants to assess the emission of different refurbishment solutions for multi-storey residential building. The aim of this research has been to develop a systematic decision tool to identify suitable sustainable refurbishment solutions for multi-story residential buildings in subtropical regions like Hong Kong and to calculate the CO2emission reductions of these solutions. The research began with a comprehensive literature review of the existing sustainable refurbishment approaches. The results of this literature review formed the basis for a preliminary screening according to local climate and buildings features. Interviews with experts and questionnaire surveys with residents were carried out in order to confirm the applicability of the proposed approaches. Then, based on a case study, this research established a set of methods, through literature review and energy simulation, to calculate the CO2 emission reductions achievable by sustainable refurbishment. With the setup of criteria for identifying applicable refurbishment solutions, method of calculation of CO2 emission reductions and parameter input/output and user interface design, a decision tool was developed for sustainable refurbishment. Finally, a series of interviews was conducted to validate the major research outcomes. In this study, a residential building is divided into two zones, the common area and those occupied by owners/tenants. This study further identifies possible sustainable refurbishment solutions for each area, which can provide stakeholders with a variety of options for launching sustainable refurbishment projects. Moreover, a theoretical framework for emission assessment, consisting of system boundary and calculation methods, is also proposed in this study, which can provide better calculation of emission reductions as a result of various sustainable refurbishment solutions. The most significant outcome of this project is a decision tool which can generate a set of sustainable refurbishment solutions and calculate CO2 emission reductions according to the architectural features input by users. With the function of identifying the approaches for reducing CO2emission, owners and occupants of existing residential buildings can minimize the CO2emissions of their properties through refurbishing some of the building components in a sustainable manner. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

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This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

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