Due to the deterioration of the earth’s health and the uncertainty in terms of climate changes, economy, food, water and energy supplies, the above terms have become worldwide phenomena. Buildings have a huge role to play in addressing the environmental concerns as they play a contributing role in gas emissions, waste disposal and energy use. The literature review and results of the quantitative research amongst experts like facility and building managers, leasing agents, finance managers and project managers in the property sector formed the basis of the study. Although green buildings are regarded as the future, the study revealed that there is a perception, even amongst experts in the property sector that the upfront costs of building green is substantially higher when compared to building conventional, which limits the construction of green buildings. This research is aimed at investigating whether building green leads to financial benefits which will ultimately provide the differentiator when it comes down to a final decision whether to invest in green buildings or not. An overview is also provided on the fundamental principles of green buildings which are important to be implemented in the construction of green buildings in order to maximise the financial benefits provided by green buildings. The study showed that experts agreed that the concepts applied in green buildings lead to long-term financial savings which justifies the statement that a realistic comparison between the total costs of building green versus building conventional can only be achieved over the lifecycle of a building. The main finding of this study is that there is awareness and understanding of the financial benefits associated with green buildings which implies that green buildings have a good growth potential. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

<p> This action research exploratory study sought to learn how to better develop my practice by using grounded theory. It explored the apparent cognitive transformational experience of nine participants over a period of four weeks after the implementation of an intervention called Mindfulness into Action. The informal intervention was used with the Kichwa community in the Amazon rainforest and three additional formal interventions were conducted in the United States, Ecuador, and Norway over six years, in each case supported by higher education institutions. Using grounded theory methodology, the researcher found that participants were in the initial &ldquo;reactive&rdquo; state in Phase 1, experiencing conflict, resistance, stress, and victim identity. These characteristics were unknown to participants who were just reacting to everyday life experiences. In Phase 2, participants became aware of their behaviors, but could not stop non-beneficial behaviors. In Phase 3, they could observe their unknown behaviors and then change their sabotaging behaviors. Other salient characteristics from Phase 3 were happiness, being at peace with themselves, tolerance, and effectiveness. </p><p> There is a tendency to believe that change does not come easily, especially for adults, because our mental models rule our lives (subconsciously). However, participants were all adults from distinct walks of life who observed their unknown assumptions and reported change in their lives and in perceptions of their world. Furthermore, this intervention helped participants manage <i> dissonance</i> in their lives and produce changes specific and relevant to each individual, i.e., adults in the Kichwa community changed their assumptions and got rid of the mining company without violence. Moreover, the students who conducted research in the Amazon rainforest changed their research approach from top-down (doing research on people) to human development co-creation (doing research with people). Lastly, students in the academic institutions changed their way of interacting with their environment and others, and most importantly observed and changed behaviors that were sabotaging their efforts to succeed in life. They overcame their assumption of &ldquo;knowing&rdquo; and became more open to others&rsquo; perspectives. Each change was specific to the individual, resulting in the betterment of their lives.</p>

Published Article / The reasons, objects, means and methods for a transfer of scientific results to society are analysed in the article. Among this, knowledge transfer - especially technology transfer - and on projects, especially joint projects with the aim of creating or transferring knowledge are concentrated upon. Success factors for bringing science to support socioeconomic development also receive attention.

Published Article / The vision of CUT is to transform itself into a sustainable university, by incorporating sustainable development in its teaching, research and learning environment, and by maximizing and mainstreaming environmental, economic and social sustainability in all its operations and educational activities. For this reason it launched a sustainable development (SD) project in February 2011. This process is being managed by the Office of Technology and Innovation and executed according to a project plan, which is continually rolled-out as progress is being made with the project. This article is a brief summary of progress that has been made during the first year of implementation of the plan.

Published Article / Sustainable development is the key issue for enabling the survival of human culture. Product development is sometimes seen as conflicting with the aims of sustainable development. This comes from a twofold impact: the production of new goods exploits scarce resources, and their use creates additional resource consumption and potential disparity. However, innovation and product development are important means to fulfil the needs of present and future generations and to achieve sustainable development. In this context, we must also consider the development of service products - classical services and product - related ones creating surplus value from physical products. The contribution of product development to sustainability will depend on the way sustainability issues are integrated into the development process. An important focus is on the early phases of product development and especially on the process of requirements analysis since this integrates all sustainability role players as potential stakeholders.

Due to the deterioration of the earth’s health and the uncertainty in terms of climate changes, economy, food, water and energy supplies, the above terms have become worldwide phenomena. Buildings have a huge role to play in addressing the environmental concerns as they play a contributing role in gas emissions, waste disposal and energy use. The literature review and results of the quantitative research amongst experts like facility and building managers, leasing agents, finance managers and project managers in the property sector formed the basis of the study. Although green buildings are regarded as the future, the study revealed that there is a perception, even amongst experts in the property sector that the upfront costs of building green is substantially higher when compared to building conventional, which limits the construction of green buildings. This research is aimed at investigating whether building green leads to financial benefits which will ultimately provide the differentiator when it comes down to a final decision whether to invest in green buildings or not. An overview is also provided on the fundamental principles of green buildings which are important to be implemented in the construction of green buildings in order to maximise the financial benefits provided by green buildings. The study showed that experts agreed that the concepts applied in green buildings lead to long-term financial savings which justifies the statement that a realistic comparison between the total costs of building green versus building conventional can only be achieved over the lifecycle of a building. The main finding of this study is that there is awareness and understanding of the financial benefits associated with green buildings which implies that green buildings have a good growth potential. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Consumers are often confronted with incomplete product information. In such instances, they can eliminate the product from further consideration due to higher associated uncertainty or ask for more information. Alternatively, they can apply subjective theories about covariation to infer the value of missing attributes. This paper investigates the latter option in the context of sustainability and provides an in-depth exploration of consumers' inference formations. Drawing from rich qualitative data, it offers a conceptualization of the underlying relationships consumers use to infer product sustainability based on other product attributes. The study further assesses whether these findings can be captured in a quantifiable way. To this end, inferred sustainability is conceptualized as a formative second-order construct, thereby depicting the influence of inference-triggering product attributes. (authors' abstract)

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / The context of this topic covers the implementation of sensory and intelligible elements into the design process. These elements mainly pertain towards the human experience, and how design professionals can interpret these elements into functional concepts. The idea of incorporating sensory and intelligible principles is a relatively new premise in the realm of design, and as such there are many opportunities for the field to expand. Due to uncertainties pertaining to this field, such as the cost of production as well the subjective nature of the information, there are not many examples of design professionals utilizing these concepts to their full potential. The research methodology is primarily a qualitative analysis, examining precedents and examples of sensory elements as well as their functional applications in the professional world. Significant findings of this research combat the perceived subjectivity of this field, as there are proven benefits to incorporating these elements in the design process. These include creating more memorable spaces, improving mood of participants, and the ability to create safer spaces. Keywords: Intelligible, Kevin Lynch, sensory, Christopher Alexander, human experience, design process

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / School gardens are booming in Arizona as their opportunities for educational development continue to grow. One common problem, however, is that most schools with a school garden lack a proper managerial system that would help their garden be used to its full potential. The work compiled in this capstone project defines a managerial structure and provides a site-specific example of an intern manual that is intended to be used as in introductory guide with all the necessary resources to get an intern started.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / The idea of using nature, as a design model in building construction is not a new one; this innovative technique is known as biomimicry in architecture. This study focuses on biomimicry and its application in three buildings; The University of Arizona’s new Environmental and Natural Resource Phase 2 (ENR2) building; Architect Mick Pearce’s Eastgate Centre in Harare Zimbabwe; and Council House 2 (CH2) in Melbourne Australia. The research in this paper is centered around the ENR2 building, it examines the extent to which biomimcry is applied in terms of aesthetics and performance, by comparing it to the Eastgate Centre and CH2 buildings.