This licentiate thesis examines environmental assessment tools for buildings. This is done by investigating, analysing, comparing and testing how different environmental assessment tools measure the environmental performance of buildings and examining the consequences this may have on architectural design. The study begins by analysing three environmental assessment tools: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) and EcoEffect. These tools are then tested on a case study building (an eight-storey residential building) to analyse differences regarding assessment results, improvement proposals and potential impacts on architectural design. One of the environmental impacts assessed in the three tools, namely Climate Change caused by gases having Global Warming Potential (GWP), is then analysed in greater detail from a life cycle perspective by measuring CO2-equivalents (CO2-eq). A basic calculation tool (referred to as the ENSLIC tool), based on life cycle assessment methodology, is used to assess a case study building (a four-storey office building in Gävle). The CO2-eq emissions from a building’s material production and energy use are calculated and the impacts of a number of suggested building improvements and changes of energy sources are analysed.  The studies show the complexity of assessment tools and different ways to make comparisons. Both similarities and differences between the tools are apparent, regarding hierarchical structure and also on each hierarchical level, from categories to issues and parameters. It is also shown that the choice of environmental assessment tool may have an influence on the architectural design of buildings. The difficulty with assessing complex buildings is apparent even when only one environmental issue is assessed with the LCA-based ENSLIC tool. Many aspects influence the assessment result. These include energy use, choice of materials and choice of energy sources. The complexity and difficulty in linking buildings to environmental impact create a need for interactive tools measuring environmental performance, which can be useful as decision support in the early design phase. / Denna licentiatavhandling behandlar miljöbedömningsmetoder för byggnader. Arbetet bygger på undersökningar analyser, jämförelser och tester av hur miljöbedömningsmetoder bedömer byggnaders miljöprestanda och undersöker även vilka konsekvenser som detta kan ha på arkitektonisk utformning. Forskningen börjar med att tre miljöbedömningsmetoder, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Code for Sustainble Homes (CSH) och EcoEffect analyseras och jämförs. Sedan genomförs en fallstudie där de tre metoderna testas på ett bostadshus (ett åttavåningar högt bostadshus i Stockholm). Skillnader gällande miljöbedömningsresultat och miljöbedömningmetodernas förslag på förbättringsåtgärder samt eventuell påverkan på den arkitektoniska utformningen analyseras och diskuteras. En av miljöpåverkanskategorierna som bedöms i de tre metoderna, klimatpåverkan orsakad av gaser med inverkan på den globala uppvärmningen, analyseras sedan mer i detalj utifrån ett livscykelperspektiv genom att mäta byggnaders utsläpp av koldioxidekvivalenter (CO2 ekv). Ett förenklat beräkningsverktyg (som här benämns ENSLIC-verktyget), som är baserat på livscykelmetodik, används för att studera en byggnad (ett fyra våningar högt kontorshus i Gävle). Sedan beräknas utsläppet av CO2 ekv från byggnadens material- och energianvändning. Effekten av ett flertal föreslagna förbättringsåtgärder på byggnaden samt byte av energikällor analyseras också. Studierna visar på miljöbedömningmetodernas komplexitet och presenterar olika sätt att göra jämförelser på. Skillnader och likheter mellan metoderna påvisas gällande hierarkisk struktur och även på varje hierarkisk nivå, från kategorier till enskilda bedömda frågor och parametrar. Dessa skillnader talar för att olika metoder kan påverka den arkitektoniska utformningen av byggnader. Svårigheten i att bedöma komplexa byggnader belyses även när endast en miljöpåverkan bedöms med det livscykelanalys baserade ENSLIC-verktyget. Många saker påverkar resultatet, framförallt energianvändning tillsammans med materialanvändning och val av energikällor. Den komplexa och svåra uppgiften att länka samman byggnader med deras miljöpåverkan öppnar upp för användande av interaktiva verktyg som mäter miljöpåverkan som kan användas som beslutshjälpmedel i tidiga designskeden. / QC 20101123

This thesis provides a good introduction to the American environmental certification system LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and trough compar-isons between Sweden and the United States an explanation to the systems design is given. The work is closely linked to a LEED Core & Shell project in Stockholm, Swe-den, where the goal is to reach the second highest rating in LEED - Gold. This thesis gives a broad description of the LEED system and a more profound study of the energy sector, Energy and Atmosphere. Here, for example, an analysis has been made of how the energy consumption of an imaginary building designed according to the requirements of the BBR (Swedish building code) performs in comparison to the Baseline building in LEED. The existing model of Borgarfjord 3, which served as a case study in this work, has al-so been modified to investigate the energy savings that could have been achieved by adding extra insulation to the building. A description of the problems, regarding how the Swedish district heating system (DES) is treated in LEED, is given as well as the suggested modifications. This is an issue that will be pursued during the process of shaping a new, international, version of LEED due to be launched 2012.

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With growing world population and decreasing fossil fuel reserves we need to explore and utilize variety of renewable and clean energy sources to meet the imminent challenge of energy crisis. Solar energy is considered as the leading promising alternate energy source with the pertinent challenge of off sunshine period and uneven worldwide distribution of usable sun light. Although thermoelectricity is considered as a reasonable energy harvester from wasted heat, its mass scale usage is yet to be developed. By transforming window glasses into generators of thermoelectricity, this doctoral work explores engineering aspects of using the temperature gradient between the hot outdoor heated by the sun and the relatively cold indoor of a building for mass scale energy generation. In order to utilize the two counter temperature environments simultaneously, variety of techniques, including: a) insertion of basic metals like copper and nickel wire, b) sputtering of thermoelectric films on side walls of individual glass strips to form the thickness depth of the glass on subsequent curing of the strips, and c) embedding nano-manufactured thermoelectric pillars, have been implemented for innovative integration of thermoelectric materials into window glasses. The practical demonstration of thermoelectric windows has been validated using a finite element model to predict the behavior of thermoelectric window under variety of varying conditions. MEMS based characterization platform has been fabricated for thermoelectric characterization of thin films employing van der Pauw and four probe modules. Enhancement of thermoelectric properties of the nano- manufactured pillars due to nano-structuring, achieved through mechanical alloying of micro-sized thermoelectric powders, has been explored. Modulation of thermoelectric properties of the nano-structured thermoelectric pillars by addition of sulfur to nano-powder matrix has also been investigated in detail. Using the best possible p and n type thermoelectric materials, this novel energy generation technique promises 304 watts of thermoelectricity from a 9 m2 glass window utilizing temperature difference of 20 OC. In addition to be useful even during off sunshine hours of the day, these energy harvesting windows will be capable of power generation even in the absence of a cooling systems inside the building as long as a natural temperature gradient exists between the two counter environments. With an increasing trend of having the exterior of buildings and high rises entirely made up of glass, this work offers an innovative transformation of these building exteriors into mass scale energy harvesters capable of running average lighting loads inside the building hence providing a complimentary source of electricity to the main power grid.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第20719号 / 農博第2248号 / 新制||農||1054(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H29||N5085(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科森林科学専攻 / (主査)教授 神﨑 護, 教授 吉岡 崇仁, 准教授 仲村 匡司 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

The development and expansion of cities has led to increased public awareness of the influence of building sustainability on the environment, society, and economy. Green building eases the pressure of urbanization by saving energy, reducing waste, protecting the environment, improving the living standard, and encouraging industry. Consequently, green building has developed rapidly for 20 years. This study reviews the literature on green building, recognizes the stakeholders’ motivations for and barriers to green building development, uses value network analysis, cost–benefit analysis, and case study method for understanding value creation, value sensing, value delivery, and value capturing mechanism of green building to augment the knowledge of green building development for both academics and practitioners. This study proposes an applicable analysis tool. / Business Administration/Finance

Research on public support for green building has, to date, been incomplete. Understanding the demographics of individuals that support green building has remained secondary to merely determining real opinions on the topic. The identity of supporters and the motivation behind their support is the focus of this research. Specifically, is support for green building dependent on the way in which the issue is framed? This research aims to focus on those that are spreading the message about green building, industry experts, and the mass public. By exposing how green building experts talk about the issue, we may begin to understand why public support for green building has yet to reach the kind of mainstream acceptance other planning and design techniques have,such as New Urbanism. I predict that green building experts perceived low levels of public awareness, with the exception of those within the Northwest region, which I believ will perceive higher levels of awareness. In addition, I assume that industry experts will be most focused on energy efficiency as a primary concept of green building. As for the public, I hypothesize that those aware of green building and individuals age 50 and older will be more likely to support green building. With the introduction of source cues, I expect that support for green building will decrease when respondents received either an environmentalism cue or a government program cue. Using survey instruments, I was able to determine that all green building experts perceive public awareness as low and do, in fact, focus their efforts on energy efficiency. With regards to the public, support was highest among those that are aware, as well as those age 50 and older. In addition, insertion of source cues decreased support for green building, with the government program source cue providing the lowest levels of support for green building.

A Green building is a well-managed building both in its technical and managerial senses. To achieve a Green Building standard, real estate developers should have frameworks in place to monitor and provide information regarding the sustainable aspects of the building. ESG data of a building is related to the Energy, Social, and Governance impact made by a building during its operations, and building a standardized and scalable solution to monitor this data will allow the developers to achieve a Green Building status easily. A Building Information Model is an architectural model that can be used to manage data from within a building to help provide its stakeholders with relevant data. This thesis aimed to design a BIM to manage the ESG data of a commercial building allowing the real estate developers to monitor and manage the building more sustainably with improved transparency and with the ability to make faster data-driven decisions. Action Design Research was the research strategy used to carry out the research and semi-structured interviews along with literature reviews were conducted to collect data. Thematic Analysis was done to identify themes in the collected data and the analyzed data was used to create the artifact. The artifact was then tested in the industry by gaining feedback from the industry. The thesis successfully designed an architecture model by collaborating with the industry and suggesting a universally applicable model to manage ESG data more efficiently. The model also gives importance to external software vendors and data consumers to help make the system more scalable and adaptable.

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