Environmental issues have gained importance due to global environmental threat, such as depletion of energy resources and the impacts of climate change. The building sector is responsible for almost half of the impacts on the environment. Hence, this study focuses on the importance of environmental impacts of building materials. In this regard, firstly, sustainability indicators for building materials were determined and the environmental impacts of selected building materials were studied. Then, the evaluation system BREEAM and the evaluation software BEES were selected and used to evaluate one block of bachelor flats and one of housing units in ODTUKENT, which is located in the Middle East Technical University campus in Ankara, Turkey. Building materials used for the construction of walls, floors and roofs were evaluated according to the indicators accepted by BREEAM and BEES. The results for both units were compared and it was seen that the block of bachelor flats takes lower ratings than the triplex unit for BREEAM and also lower values for BEES. Therefore, the block of bachelor flats has less environmental impact than the triplex unit. While evaluating the materials an exact match for all the materials used in the case buildings could not be found in these tools. Hence, it was not possible to exact results for these materials. In this regard, countries should determine their own evaluation indicators and develop their evaluation systems.

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) - Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Mimarlık Anabilim Dalı, 2008. / Kaynakça var.

Although requirements in relation to indoor environment quality (IEQ) have been made in green building rating systems such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and China GBL (Green Building Label) to promote occupant comfort, health and productivity, in practice, very little is known about user perception and satisfaction with IEQ in green buildings. Recruitment and post-occupancy evaluation of 10 office buildings (8 green buildings and 2 non-green buildings) and their 696 occupants for this study generated a dataset representing many potential avenues of inquiry. From the occupant’s point of view, the green offices in buildings with whole-building certification were significantly more satisfactory than the non-green offices, whereas the green offices certified only on the basis of their interiors were comparable to the non-green offices. Mixed-mode ventilation performed much better than other ventilation types (central air-conditioning and split air-conditioning). However, the mixed-mode green buildings were invariably perceived to be too cold in winter. A correlation model showed that green building users tended to appreciate a well ventilated, daylit, and quiet indoor environment for their health and productivity. The findings in the study made critical suggestions with regard to pursuing green building certification and addressing human factors in sustainable building design and research. The strengths and weaknesses of this study were discussed to inform future studies. / published_or_final_version / Architecture / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The buildings sector consumes approximately 40% of energy in the United States, and presents a major opportunity for reducing society's energy consumption and environmental impact. Given the potential downside impacts of climate change and resource depletion, it is imperative that the construction industry deliver buildings that meet owner requirements while using less energy and natural resources. In response to this challenge, the construction industry has adopted voluntary green building programs that provide guidelines for construction projects wishing to reduce their environmental impact. Green building programs also present the opportunity for those pushing beyond the status quo to receive increased recognition and market visibility; however, certification under these programs is not without an added cost. The added cost of certification varies by project, but building owners and builders must be able to justify this added cost through increased market recognition and sales and leasing prices. Given the relatively low recognition of a price premium for green certified residential properties by the real estate appraisal community and financial institutions, a need exists to demonstrate the added market recognition of these homes. Through the development of a hedonic regression pricing model this study isolates the effects of green building certification on housing sales prices, in order to prove the hypothesis that a significant increase in sales price is associated with green certified housing.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

In modern times it has become common practice for architects to work freely around the globe, Japanese architects in Italy or Italians in China, as universal connections are made easier through modern means of transport. The aspects of identity and culture are important to designers which can be seen in many cities that have long and sustained pasts evident in their architectural traditions and commonly expressed within their historic centers. These are been lost as people are changing the way they perceive and envision their surroundings as globalisation is forcibly imposing global cultures upon local dogmas. As a result, architects often look at international precedent for influence when designing, importing ideas which often disregard local contextual factors in aspiring for global recognition. To understand if these new technological, iconic and trend driven buildings are socially, economically and environmentally appropriate, one must analyse how the respond to their surrounding contextual aspects within the region. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

The purpose of this research document is to inform the author about the manners in which built form can be reconfigured within landscapes. As such the focus is twofold: Firstly, the concept of landscape must be explored and defined and secondly, theoretical approaches to the reconfiguration of built form within the landscape must be determined. Through research it is found that landscape is not, as is popular belief, merely a natural phenomenon, but consists of a visual and imagined component. The visual component in turn, consists of the natural and the cultural landscape. An argument is made that the predominate contemporary paradigm should determine the manner in which the built form is designed. As such, the theme of complement (between built form and landscape) is derived as an interpretation of the current global awareness of environmental issues. The imagined landscape is found to relate to the cultural landscape in the sense of both being influenced by it and influencing it. From the contemporary, global mindset of environmental sensitivity, the concept of complement is derived. Complement refers to the idea of mutual symbiosis of two parties, i.e. both parties benefit from their relation. As such, the theory of synchronized geometry and progressive tradition is investigated in terms of the natural and cultural landscape respectively. The intention and potential application of the theories is tested by discussion in relation to certain precedents and cases of built form (such as the Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre) and landscape (the landscape of iSimangaliso Wetland Park). / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This thesis examines existing rehabilitation and environmental guidelines to determine whether the guidelines are incorporating the necessary building science knowledge to ensure that insulation is performing as intended and thus promoting energy efficiency, cost effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. The results of analyzing the existing guidelines show that they do not require all that is necessary to promote energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. While several of the guidelines have started to incorporate the necessary building science perspective by requiring a whole house air leakage test, none of the guidelines examined specifically require the zonal pressure diagnostics test necessary to ensure that insulation is working to specification. The thesis also includes a comprehensive overview of environmental sustainability and rehabilitation. / Department of Urban Planning

Iš žmonėms projektuojamų pastatų galima nesunkiai nuspręsti, koks tos socialinės grupės gyvenimo stilius, vertybės ir siekiai. Vertinti architektūrą – reiškia vertinti žmonių kultūros lygį, technologinius pasiekimus ir pažangos kryptį – ar ji koncentruota tik į dabartinių poreikių tenkinimą, ar atsižvelgiama ir į aplinkos tausojimą, jos puoselėjimą. Pastaruoju metu ryšį su aplinka ir žmonių socialumą galima apibrėžti vienu terminu – tvarumas. Šio termino esmė yra trijų sąvokų – socialumas, ekologiškumas ir ekonomiškumas (racionalumas) – ryšys ir tarpusavio proporcija. Tad tvari architektūra – žmonių socialumą skatinanti, draugiška aplinkai ir racionali architektūra. Iš šio žodžio junginio – tvari architektūra – kyla baigiamojo darbo tema ir problematika. Tad tyrimo objektas – tvari architektūra ir jos pritaikomumas Lietuvoje. Tyrimo tikslas – išaiškinti žodžio tvarumas praktines ir teorines suvokimo bei panaudojimo galimybes. Tuomet rasti neracionaliai išnaudotą vietą miesto centre. Joje sukurti mišrios paskirties architektūrinį objektą, kuris nagrinėjamas pagrindiniais aspektais – ekologija, socialumu ir ekonomija, o taip pat ir estetiniu, bei kontekstualumo atžvilgiu būtų ženkliai pranašesnis už buvusią struktūrą. Tyrimo rezultatas – suprojektuotas mišrios paskirties pastatas Vilniaus Naujamiestyje. Šiame pastate numatyta gyvenamoji ir visuomeninė funkcijos. Jos užtikrina nuolatinį žmonių srautą, kuris didina individų socialumą, saugumą bei patrauklumą komercinių veiklų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / By analyzing buildings it is easy to decide what the social group life style, values and aspirations are. To judge architecture means to assess the cultural level, technological achievement and civilization progress in the direction - whether it is focused only on the current needs, or takes into account environmental sustainability and its nurturing. Recently, the relationship with the environment and people's sociability can be defined in one term - sustainability. The essence of the term lies in three concepts - sociability, ecology, cost-effectiveness (rationality) and their interconnection. Sustainable architecture promotes sociability, consciousness to the environment and does not require a lot of resources. This compound word - sustainable architecture is my thesis theme and main topic. So the study object is sustainable architecture and its application in Lithuania. The aim of this work is to explain the word sustainability in practical and theoretical means. Next step is to find irrationally used site near the city center. Finally create there a mixed-use architectural object, which may be examined in ecological, social, economic, aesthetic and contextual aspects. In all those points new structure should be significantly better than the previous one. Research result is a mixed-use building designed in the Naujamiestis district of Vilnius. This building consists of residential and public functions. These functions ensure a continuous flow of people, which increases... [to full text]

When designing a building, the architect has typically relied on the input of outside experts to determine the performance of building systems. When done properly this collaboration can yield highly effective designs, but typically this reliance has left the architect outside of the loop on performance based decisions and impeded the development of innovative solutions. With the availability of powerful building simulation tools, designers can have direct access to building performance attributes and use them to qualify the environmental impact of design-decisions. With knowledge of fundamental principles in building performance and computer modeling, a designer can effectively harness the power of these tools from the beginning of the design process. While this does not eliminate the need for expert opinion, it allows the designer to further develop and have more control over the solution through collaboration. By working effectively in this digital design environment, the practice of architecture can meet its responsibility to reduce the impact of buildings on the physical environment. To test this statement, a brief overview of the integration of analysis tools in two projects that represent the current state of the art for digital performance simulation describes the need for multiple tools to achieve effective results. Based on this experience, a study was done to explore the capabilities of four representative simulation tools to support a design process that is entirely digital. The software evaluated was Energy-10, eQUEST, Sketch-Up with Demeter (a recently released plug-in for energy analysis) and ECOTECT. These tools were chosen because they have been targeted toward architects and claim to be easy to use. The results of this investigation were used to determine an appropriate tool set to develop a design for submission to the Leading Edge Competition, chosen because one of the requirements is that entrants perform energy analyses on their schemes to show how design decisions led to improved performance, making it a good vehicle to explore the process of designing in a simulation environment.