The Development Program for the J. H. Wysor Store and Office Building Restoration and Reuse for a City Hall for Muncie, Indiana is an analysis of one of Muncie's best known landmarks. The development program is a study that investigates the history, physical characteristics, and potential reuse of the J. H. Wysor Store and Office Building. The program includes space requirements and an analysis of the needs for a city hall for Muncie, Indiana.The study was also extended to the entire city block with special emphasis on the small store fronts, 107, 109, and 111 West Main Street.The results of my thesis are a proposed design for the restoration of the Wysor Building, the 107, 109, and 111 West Main Street and an example of a proposed parking garage, through drawings and a model. / Department of Architecture

The study described in this thesis investigates how the implementation of raised floor system (RFS) for the fitout of office buildings can be promoted in the Australian construction industry. It essentially achieves this goal through justifying the RFS fitout advantages, improving industry practitioners' awareness of the innovative technology, and identifying the barriers hindering RFS application, and exploring integrated approaches to overcome these barriers. Due to increasing levels of technological, environmental and organizational changes in office buildings, the traditional office building fitout method cannot deliver flexible services economically and in a timely manner. RFS is highlighted for its superior underfloor distribution technologies and ability to promote healthy workplace environments and organizational flexibilities. Despite the many benefits RFS may bring, this innovative technology has not been widely used. Therefore, for countries with potential growth in the office building market, including Australia, how to make this state-of-the-art fitout technology more acceptable is of great importance. To encourage the RFS implementation in office buildings, the research set up five objectives: (1) to justify the RFS advantages for office building fitout compared with traditional fitout method; (2) to identify and present appropriate specifications of RFS products and applications in order to improve industry practitioners' awareness on RFS fitout; (3) to identify and seek potential solutions to barriers hindering RFS fitout implementation; (4) to integrate the barriers and their solutions into RFS project delivery using constructability study; and (5) to formulate guidelines for RFS fitout implementation in office buildings in the Australian construction industry. A comprehensive research methodology consisting of questionnaire, semi-structured interview, site observations, focus groups, life cycle cost (LCC) comparison, and constructability study was structured to support the exploratory research. With a combined qualitative and quantitative data analysis method, the questionnaire and interview surveys revealed the low level recognition of RFS within the industry, and identified 20 significant influence factors (SIFs) and 15 real problems associated with RFS fitout implementation. The site observations and focus groups validated the survey findings and justified the RFS fitout advantages. Then, the LCC comparison established a model and verified the LCC benefits of RFS fitout through a case study. The final discussion on the SIFs, real problems and their solutions uncovered 36 project level critical factors pertaining to RFS fitout design, construction, operation and maintenance. A constructability study was employed to integrate these key factors into RFS fitout project delivery, such as construction knowledge inputs, team skills, and RFS fitout programs. More importantly, five key issues with significant influences were revealed. Further investigation of these key issues led to a framework for the constructability implementation, a contracting strategy with nominated specialist contractors under CM/GC, and a process-based conceptual model for the selection of RFS products. Based on these findings, a set of guidelines for the RFS fitout implementation in office buildings was formulated as a contribution to practice. Questionnaires were again used to invite comments on the key issues and guidelines, and the results proved the validity of the research outcomes.

The use of natural light is very beneficial in office buildings because energy consumption can be reduced, and working conditions can be enhanced, which positively affect workers' health and productivity. However, bringing natural light into deep plan office buildings is not possible with simple windows or skylights, and light transport systems are necessary to bring natural light into the deep cores of buildings. Light transport systems usually need sun-tracking devices to collect natural light that are complicated, expensive and require continual maintenance. Mirrored light pipes coupled with laser cut panels (LCP) are a passive and simpler daylight transport solution and are the focus of this PhD research. The primary aim has been to improve the technology and achieve the most efficient passive solution possible through the interactive use of theoretical modelling, experimental measurements and case studies. Applications of this technology were investigated in two case studies: 1) as horizontal light pipes for daylight illumination of a high rise building proposal in the tropics; and 2) as vertical light pipes for daylight illumination of a middle-rise deep plan building proposal in a subtropical environment. In both cases, quantitative system performance under best (clear sunny sky) and worst (overcast) case scenarios was undertaken via scale model testing and mathematical modelling. The major conclusion for both case studies was that mirrored light pipe technologies, when coupled with LCP, were effective in introducing sufficient ambient light levels inside buildings and over distances > 20 m from the façade or roof. Average lux levels achieved in the space were 150 to 350 lux for the horizontal light pipes and 50 to 300 lux for vertical light pipes. However, as a passive solution, this technology has two major limitations: 1) the dependence on sun azimuth and elevation angles, which result in variations in illuminance levels during the day and the year; and potentially 2) pipe size, as pipes with a large diameter (e.g. 2 m in diameter for 20 m long pipes) are required for optimal performance, such that the large pipes may limit integration in building design. Two other solutions were assessed to circumvent these limitations to the mirrored light pipe technology: 1) a passive collector that concentrate natural light by using a fluorescent panel to reduce the size of the pipe, and 2) an active collector comprising a LCP rotating 360 degrees in a 24 hour cycle to reduce system dependence on sun azimuth and elevation angles. The low light-to-light efficiency of the fluorescent panels made them inappropriate for collecting sufficient amounts of daylight necessary for daylighting of large buildings. In contrast, the rotating LCP is a very simple active system that by rotating constantly at 15 degrees per hour, reduces the deviation angle between the panel orientation and sun azimuth angle, and significantly increased the system performance. The performance was generally better (e.g. 2.5 times better for light collection under low sun elevation angles) than the passive light pipe system with fixed LCP. However, active systems raise other issues in terms of cost-benefit in constructing, operating and maintaining such systems. Passive mirrored light pipes coupled with LCPs or simple active systems with rotating LCPs have great potential as daylight solutions for deep plan buildings as they can contribute to lowering overall energy consumption, improve workplace health and become an architectural design element. Research is still required on the implementation of the technology into buildings, but the growing trend towards 'green buildings', sustainable design and government regulations or building codes will require more daylighting use in buildings, and will motivate designers to increasingly consider and incorporate such daylighting strategies into future building designs.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

A grande diversidade de classificações empregadas no mercado imobiliário para fazer referência a edifícios de escritórios é flagrante. Para suportar qualquer tomada de decisão relacionada ao produto edifício de escritórios é conveniente que a informação sobre a qualidade desses prédios seja única. Este sistema de certificação da qualidade estratifica o mercado de edifícios de escritórios de forma criteriosa, imparcial e única no âmbito nacional. Os prédios submetidos a este sistema de certificação são classificados de acordo com o estado de determinados atributos. Cada edifício analisado obtém duas classificações: nacional e regional, que são representadas por letras, sendo a classificação nacional seguida da extensão “Br”, para distinguir-se da classificação regional. A classificação nacional contempla apenas os atributos físicos da construção, desconsiderando o quesito localização. Na classificação regional, os atributos contemplados são os físicos e a localização do prédio dentro de determinado mercado de escritórios. Em nenhuma delas a gestão do edifício é avaliada. A qualidade do edifício de escritórios analisado é expressa através destas duas classificações em um certificado emitido pelo Núcleo de Real Estate da Escola Politécnica da USP. Os procedimentos e regras para aplicação do sistema em questão foram estabelecidos neste estudo. A perecibilidade de alguns componentes deste sistema de certificação, inclusive dos certificados por ele gerados, foi tratada nesta pesquisa. Rotinas e prazos para atualização destes componentes e para verificação da validade dos certificados também foram definidos. Para desenvolvimento deste sistema de certificação foram feitas pesquisas bibliográficas, entrevistas com participantes do mercado de edifícios brasileiros de escritórios, visitas a edificações do segmento imobiliário enfocado, observações no mercado de prédios de escritórios e arbitragens iniciais, seguidas de testes de validação e calibragem entremeados com sucessivos ajustes. As arbitragens com posterior validação e calibragem foram empregadas para elaboração de alguns dos componentes deste sistema de certificação. As opiniões prevalentes no meio especializado foram utilizadas em importantes arbitragens iniciais. O processo Delphi, combinado com técnicas da Estatística Descritiva, foi empregado para detectar estas opiniões. Esta pesquisa objetiva, com este sistema de certificação, melhorar a qualidade das informações produzidas a respeito dos edifícios brasileiros de escritórios. Suas diretrizes podem ser empregadas para desenvolvimento de pesquisas análogas em outros segmentos do mercado imobiliário, no Brasil e no exterior, e também nesse mesmo nicho de mercado, porém no exterior. / It is notorious how widely ranged are the classifications used at the real estate market to indicate the quality of office buildings. To support any decision related to the office building product it is convenient to have one and only information regarding the quality of these buildings. This quality certification system stratify the office buildings market in a discerning, impartial and single way at the national sphere. The buildings submitted to this certification system are classified considering the conditions of some attributes. Each evaluated building get two classifications: one national and another regional, both represented by letters. The national classification has the extension “Br” to be distinguished from the regional classification. The national classification takes into account only the physical attributes of the construction, without regards to its location. The regional classification considers the building’s physical attributes and its location in a specific office market area. On both classifications the building management is not evaluated. The quality of the appraised office building is represented by these two classifications in a certificate issued by the Real Estate Research Group of the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (Núcleo de Real Estate da Escola Politécnica da USP). This system’s appliance procedures and rules were established in this study. Some of this system’s components are perishable including the issued certificates. This subject was treated in this research. Routines and terms were also defined to be applied to bring these components up to date and to verify the certificate’s validity. The procedures followed to elaborate this certification system were: library researches, interviews with participants of the office buildings market in Brazil, visits to edifications of this real estate market division, observations in the office buildings market and initial arbitrations, followed by validation and calibration tests and adjustments. The arbitrations were applied to elaborate some components of this certification system. The prevalent opinions in the specialized ambiency were used in important arbitrations. The Delphi process combined with Describing Statistic practices were applied to find out these opinions. This research intends to improve the quality of the information produced about office buildings in Brazil. Its guidelines may be used to develop similar researches in other divisions of the real estate market in Brazil or in foreign countries, and also in this same market section but abroad.

Diante das crises energéticas mundiais é oportuna a retomada de técnicas passivas de climatização de ambientes, como aquelas que consideram a inércia térmica das edificações. No Brasil é reconhecida a sua importância na melhoria do desempenho térmico de habitações, como indicado na norma NBR 15575 que, no método simplificado de avaliação do desempenho térmico, estabelece valores limites para a transmitância térmica e para a capacidade térmica de paredes, de modo a contemplar a influência da inércia térmica. Entretanto, não se dispõe de informações que permitam extrapolar esses critérios para edifícios de escritórios, que têm diferentes dinâmicas de uso e volumetria. Tendo como principal objetivo apresentar recomendações e critérios para o projeto de edifícios de escritórios na cidade de São Paulo, onde a inércia térmica dos ambientes pode contribuir para a redução ou a eliminação do uso de sistemas de ar condicionado, foi desenvolvido o presente trabalho. Para tal foram efetuadas simulações computacionais da resposta térmica de escritórios, analisados com variações nos seguintes parâmetros: área de piso; proporção de área na fachada em relação ao seu volume; nível de ocupação; taxa de ventilação; cor da fachada; sombreamento de aberturas; tipo de parede e temperatura de referência para o conforto térmico dos usuários. De modo geral, os resultados demonstraram que: ambientes ocupados, com paredes de maior capacidade térmica, menor área de piso e maior área na fachada em relação ao volume do ambiente, têm melhor desempenho térmico, especialmente com o uso de cores claras nas fachadas e dispositivos de sombreamento em aberturas. Tais características têm contribuição mais significativa na redução da demanda por climatização de ambientes somente se for adotada uma temperatura de referência do ar interior acima dos valores tipicamente usados nessas edificações. As recomendações e critérios apresentados para o projeto de escritórios consideram o uso de ambientes com ventilação, utilizando-se sistemas de climatização somente em menos de 15% das horas de um ano típico da cidade de São Paulo. / The global energy crises provide a further reason to use passive techniques, such as the thermal inertia, for cooling buildings. In Brazil, the importance of thermal inertia for the improvement of the thermal performance of dwellings is recognized and has been incorporated into the standard NBR 15575. For the assessment of the thermal performance, this standard establishes limit values for the thermal transmittance and the thermal capacity of walls, taking into account the influence of thermal inertia. However, there is no equivalent information available for offices, which can have very different characteristics. This thesis develops recommendations and criteria for the design of office buildings in the city of São Paulo, where the thermal inertia contributes to a reduction of energy consumption for cooling. Parametric simulations of typical offices were performed, varying the following parameters: floor area; façade-surface-area/volume ratio; internal gains (people, equipment etc.); ventilation rate; facade color and shading. The results showed that offices with walls made of components with higher thermal capacity, smaller floor area and larger façade-surface-area/volume ratio have better thermal performance. Light colors of the façade, shading devices and increased ventilation rate provided further improvement in the thermal performance of the offices. These characteristics may have significant contribution in reducing the energy demand for cooling depending on the value of the inside air temperature adopted. The recommendations and criteria presented for design of offices consider the use of air conditioning in less than 15% of the hours in a typical year in the city of São Paulo.

A complexidade no desenvolvimento de projetos para edifícios de escritórios está relacionada a dificuldades na conciliação de interesses de empreendedores, projetistas, construtores e usuários finais, e a diversidade e especialização cada vez maiores das disciplinas envolvidas. A clareza quanto aos pontos que devem ser definidos, e quem deve defini-los, ainda na fase de concepção deste tipo de projeto, é fundamental para que o empreendimento apresente viabilidades técnica, construtiva e de negócio, e a gestão do processo do projeto deve ter domínio total destas questões nesta fase. A proposta deste trabalho é apresentar as informações críticas das diversas disciplinas, que devem ser definidas ainda na concepção da arquitetura, e sua correta seqüência de inserção no processo. Para tal, a metodologia adotada baseia-se em revisão bibliográfica e na realização de um estudo de caso, cujas condições de contorno são consideradas ímpares: a empresa contratante de projetos é uma incorporadora que tem o domínio das informações sobre as necessidades mercadológicas do produto, tem um corpo técnico que apresenta condições de avaliar e escolher soluções técnicas construtivas, e também é uma empresa de administração predial, ou seja, opera o funcionamento do edifício construído, resultando em decisões de projeto que realmente focam o custo do empreendimento em seu ciclo da vida, o que não ocorre freqüentemente no mercado brasileiro. Propõe-se o desenvolvimento de um fluxo de informações de projetos que indique a necessidade e a etapa de cada informação na fase de concepção do projeto, o que ajuda a esclarecer o correto papel de cada agente no processo e constitui uma ferramenta extremamente útil para a gestão de projetos. / The complexity in office buildings design development is related to difficulties in incorporating the interests of all the players involved (owners, designers, contractors and end-users) and to the increasing diversity of specialist designers. The clarity about key points definitions and who should make them, during the design conceptual phase, is imperative for technical, constructive and commercial feasibilities of the project itself, and design management must have complete control of these aspects. The aim is to investigate what critical information from several design subjects should be defined during this conceptual phase and its correct insertion sequence in the design process. In order to achieve this investigation, the research is based on the case study method, the studied object of which has distinctive conditions: the design team contractor is a real estate company that fully understands office building market needs, holds an experienced technical team to evaluate and select constructive solutions and, also, is a facility manager. Due to this, their design decisions actually focus on the project entire life cycle, which is not common in the Brazilian market. In conclusion, the development of an information flow is proposed, during the design conceptual phase, which indicates when each piece of information should be located in the design process, which is helpful to elucidate the correct function of each related player and to establish a useful tool for design management.

Observa-se que diante da crescente competitividade nos diversos setores econômicos, corporações têm desmobilizado seu capital aplicado em real estate e passaram a pagar pelo uso de seus espaços. Aliado a necessidade destas empresas em direcionar recursos para sua atividade principal, a intensa evolução tecnológica inibe investimentos significativos em espaços próprios, especialmente naqueles com baixa flexibilidade e alta obsolescência. Neste sentido, a desmobilização de investimentos em ativos de real estate permite, por um lado, que as empresas possam direcionar capital para o seu negocio principal e por outro, que investidores que buscam as características oferecidas por investimentos em empreendimentos de base imobiliária, passem a investir nestes ativos. Diante deste cenário, investidores, como fundos de investimentos imobiliários e investidores institucionais, passaram a adquirir edifícios de escritórios para locação com a expectativa de obtenção de um fluxo de renda harmônico a partir do recebimento das locações, num padrão de remuneração atrativo com relação ao investimento no imóvel. Face ao exposto, critérios para gestão destes portfólios de investimentos poderão ser utilizados pelos administradores para propiciar condições adequadas de risco e rentabilidade. A presente tese trata da estruturação de um método para orientar a gestão de portfólios de investimentos em edifícios de escritórios para locação no Brasil, que se inicia pela identificação dos fatores de risco envolvidos nestes investimentos, a adoção de critérios de diversificação e de indicadores da qualidade para continuo monitoramento do desempenho. Contribuiu-se assim com o ferramental necessário para subsidiar decisões estratégicas na gestão do portfólio, agregando conforto na tomada de decisão. / It has been observed, given the increasing competition in various economic sectors, that corporations have been selling their real estate assets and started paying rent for their spaces. Combined with companies need to direct resources to their main activity, the steep technologic evolution inhibits significant investments in physical spaces, especially those with low flexibility and high obsolescence. Therefore, selling real estate assets, on one hand, allows that organizations direct capital to their main activity. On the other hand, it is an incentive for investors interested in real estate to allocate capital in these assets. In this scenario, investors such as real state investment funds and institutional investors, started to acquire office buildings expecting to obtain a harmonic flow of income from rent, and also to get an attractive remuneration with respect to the investment in the property. Given this context, criteria to manage investment portfolios can be used by decision makers to provide adequate conditions of risk and profitability. Henceforth, this thesis develops a method to guide the management of investment portfolios in office buildings for rent in Brazil. It starts by identifying risk factors involved in this sort of investment, the adoption of diversification criteria, and of quality indicators for constant performance monitoring. This study provides tools necessary to support strategic decisions in portfolio management, reducing uncertainty in decision making.

The need for a more authoritative approach to investment decision-making and cost control has been a requirement of office spending for many years now. The commercial offices find itself in an increasingly demanding position to allocate its budgets as wisely and prudently as possible. The significant percentage of total spending on buildings demands a more accurate and adaptable method of achieving quality of service within the constraints on the budgets. By adoption of life cycle costing techniques with risk management, practitioners have the ability to make accurate forecasts of likely future running costs. This thesis presents a novel framework (Artificial Neural Networks and probabilistic simulations) for modelling of operating and maintenance historical costs as well as economic performance measures of LCC. The methodology consisted of eight steps and presented a novel approach to modelling the LCC of operating and maintenance costs of two sustainable commercial office buildings. Finally, a set of performance measurement indicators were utilised to draw inference from these results. Therefore, the contribution that this research aimed to achieve was to develop a dynamic LCC framework for sustainable commercial office buildings, and by means of two existing buildings, demonstrate how assumption modelling can be utilised within a probabilistic environment. In this research, the key themes of risk assessment, probabilistic assumption modelling and stochastic assessment of LCC has been addressed. Significant improvements in existing LCC models have been achieved in this research in an attempt to make the LCC model more accurate and meaningful to estate managers and high-level capital investment decision makers A new approach to modelling historical costs and forecasting these costs in sustainable commercial office buildings is presented based upon a combination of ANN methods and stochastic modelling of the annual forecasted data. These models provide a far more accurate representation of long-term building costs as the inherent risk associated with the forecasts is easily quantifiable and the forecasts are based on a sounder approach to forecasting than what was previously used in the commercial sector. A novel framework for modelling the facilities management costs in two sustainable commercial office buildings is also presented. This is not only useful for modelling the LCC of existing commercial office buildings as presented here, but has wider implications for modelling LCC in competing option modelling in commercial office buildings. The processes of assumption modelling presented in this work can be modified easily to represent other types of commercial office buildings. Discussions with policy makers in the real estate industry revealed that concerns were held over how these building costs can be modelled given that available historical data represents wide spending and are not cost specific to commercial office buildings. Similarly, a pilot and main survey questionnaire was aimed at ascertaining current level of LCC application in sustainable construction; ranking drivers and barriers of sustainable commercial office buildings and determining the applications and limitations of LCC. The survey result showed that respondents strongly agreed that key performance indicators and economic performance measures need to be incorporated into LCC and that it is important to consider the initial, operating and maintenance costs of building when conducting LCC analysis, respondents disagreed that the current LCC techniques are suitable for calculating the whole costs of buildings but agreed that there is a low accuracy of historical cost data.

Most organisations nowadays want to build offices that are cost effective, but at the same time they forget to consider the impact of IEQ on the occupants’ wellbeing and performance. These offices are equipped with air-conditioners, which may impact negatively on performances if not monitored, controlled and maintained. An occupant’s performance may be accelerated or reduced, based on the effectiveness of IEQ in the office buildings. It is imperative that the employer or management create a work environment that is conducive to the occupants’ needs, so that the occupants may be able to improve their work performance that often yields increased productivity. The main aim of the study was to investigate the efficiency of a building’s Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and how it affects workers with regard to productivity. The objectives of the study were: to determine the level of satisfaction of the occupants in terms of the IEQ, evaluate the effects that the current IEQ of the building has on the productivity of the occupants, and proffer solutions to identified problems so that the building performance can be improved, and similar future buildings can be improved upon in terms of IEQ. Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) was utilised to conduct the evaluation. This will help stakeholders and managements to ensure that past mistakes committed are not repeated in the future buildings. POE analyses IEQ related to Indoor Air Quality (IEQ), thermal comfort, occupant’s satisfaction and occupant performance and productivity. There is a correlation between different indoor parameters of the occupants’ satisfaction, health and productivity at the workplace. For these correlations to complement each other successfully, IEQ factors must be conducive to human wellbeing. Workplace environments are perceived as unsafe and unhygienic. This situation is caused by poor planning of workstations, low indoor air quality, inappropriate lighting in the office, lack of ventilation and insufficient safety measures. In particular, findings of this study demonstrate the low level of occupants’ satisfaction with regard to office buildings in the Country Club Estate, Johannesburg. The results from this study show that POE is perceived to be completely new to occupants of the Country Club Estate. Management or stakeholders have a huge task ahead to address the benefits of implementing POE and to face the consequences if POE is not implemented.