Saving Energy through Using Green Rating System for Building Commissioning

With the increasing concerns related to integration of social and economic dimensions of the sustainability into life cycle assessment (LCA), traditional LCA approach has been transformed into a new concept, which is called as life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This study aims to contribute the existing LCSA framework by integrating several social and economic indicators to demonstrate the usefulness of input–output modeling on quantifying sustainability impacts. Additionally, inclusion of all indirect supply chain-related impacts provides an economy-wide analysis and a macro-level LCSA. Current research also aims to identify and outline economic, social, and environmental impacts, termed as triple bottom line (TBL), of the US residential and commercial buildings encompassing building construction, operation, and disposal phases. To achieve this goal, TBL economic input–output based hybrid LCA model is utilized for assessing building sustainability of the US residential and commercial buildings. Residential buildings include single and multi-family structures, while medical buildings, hospitals, special care buildings, office buildings, including financial buildings, multi-merchandise shopping, beverage and food establishments, warehouses, and other commercial structures are classified as commercial buildings according to the US Department of Commerce. In this analysis, 16 macro-level sustainability assessment indicators were chosen and divided into three main categories, namely environmental, social, and economic indicators. Analysis results revealed that construction phase, electricity use, and commuting played a crucial role in much of the sustainability impact categories. The electricity use was the most dominant component of the environmental impacts with more than 50 % of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption through all life cycle stages of the US buildings. In addition, construction phase has the largest share in income category with 60 % of the total income generated through residential building’s life cycle. Residential buildings have higher shares in all of the sustainability impact categories due to their relatively higher economic activity and different supply chain characteristics. This paper is an important attempt toward integrating the TBL perspective into LCSA framework. Policymakers can benefit from such approach and quantify macro-level environmental, economic, and social impacts of their policy implications simultaneously. Another important outcome of this study is that focusing only environmental impacts may misguide decision-makers and compromise social and economic benefits while trying to reduce environmental impacts. Hence, instead of focusing on environmental impacts only, this study filled the gap about analyzing sustainability impacts of buildings from a holistic perspective.

Raptors are long-lived apex predators with a lower rate of breeding success than smaller birds. Therefore, their responses to the construction of wind farms must be documented to assess the impact of wind energy on birds. We estimated the home ranges of three pairs of Mountain Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus nipalensis orientalis before, during, and after construction of a wind energy facility to assess changes in home range. We also compared altitude, inclination, and land cover composition of habitats within home ranges during the construction phase. For one pair, the home range of which included wind farm construction, the distance from the home range to the construction area during the first year of construction increased significantly compared with that during pre-construction, but there was no significant difference between the post-construction and construction phase. It is thought that the construction of a wind farm within the home range caused the displacement, and that displacement began during the first phase of construction and continuing during the second phase and afterwards. Because the birds moved about 500 m away from the wind farm during the construction and post-construction phases but succeeded in breeding, we think that the distance of 500 m may be meaningful in terms of mitigating disturbance. The nest trees of all three successful breeding pairs were more than 1.3 km from the closest wind turbine, perhaps indicative that impact on breeding is light if construction takes place this far away from breeding sites. No significant differences in either land cover or inclination within home ranges were found during the construction phase, which might explain why all birds bred successfully during the second construction phase. After construction, all three pairs continued to use areas with similar habitat.

The primary objective of the Net-Zero Energy Building Operator Training Program (NZEBOT) was to develop certificate level training programs for commercial building owners, managers and operators, principally in the areas of energy / sustainability management. The expected outcome of the project was a multi-faceted mechanism for developing the skill-based competency of building operators, owners, architects/engineers, construction professionals, tenants, brokers and other interested groups in energy efficient building technologies and best practices. The training program draws heavily on DOE supported and developed materials available in the existing literature, as well as existing, modified, and newly developed curricula from the Department of Engineering Technology & Construction Management (ETCM) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte). The project goal is to develop a certificate level training curriculum for commercial energy and sustainability managers and building operators that: 1) Increases the skill-based competency of building professionals in energy efficient building technologies and best practices, and 2) Increases the workforce pool of expertise in energy management and conservation techniques. The curriculum developed in this project can subsequently be used to establish a sustainable energy training program that can contribute to the creation of new “green” job opportunities in North Carolina and throughout themore » Southeast region, and workforce training that leads to overall reductions in commercial building energy consumption. Three energy training / education programs were developed to achieve the stated goal, namely: 1. Building Energy/Sustainability Management (BESM) Certificate Program for Building Managers and Operators (40 hours); 2. Energy Efficient Building Technologies (EEBT) Certificate Program (16 hours); and 3. Energy Efficent Buildings (EEB) Seminar (4 hours). Training Program 1 incorporates the following topics in the primary five-day Building Energy/Sustainability Management Certificate program in five training modules, namely: 1) Strategic Planning, 2) Sustainability Audits, 3) Information Analysis, 4) Energy Efficiency, and 5) Communication. Training Program 2 addresses the following technical topics in the two-day Building Technologies workshop: 1) Energy Efficient Building Materials, 2) Green Roofing Systems, 3) Energy Efficient Lighting Systems, 4) Alternative Power Systems for Buildings, 5) Innovative Building Systems, and 6) Application of Building Performance Simulation Software. Program 3 is a seminar which provides an overview of elements of programs 1 and 2 in a seminar style presentation designed for the general public to raise overall public awareness of energy and sustainability topics.« less

Investigating Building Construction Process and Developing a Performance Index

Development of quality improvement procedures and tools for facility management BIM

ABSTRACTThe estimation of energy consumption and related CO2 emissions from buildings is increasingly important in life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies that have been applied in the design of more energy-efficient building construction systems and materials. This study undertakes a life-cycle energy analysis (LCEA) and life-cycle CO2 emissions analysis (LCCO2A) of two common types of post-disaster temporary houses constructed in Turkey. The proposed model includes building construction, operation and demolition phases to estimate total energy use and CO2 emissions over 15- and 25-year lifespans for container houses (CH) and prefabricated houses (PH) respectively. Energy efficiency and emission parameters are defined per m2 and on a per capita basis. It is found that the operation phase is dominant in both PH and CH and contributes 86–88% of the primary energy requirements and 95–96% of CO2 emissions. The embodied energy (EE) of the constructions accounts for 12–14% of the overall life-cycle energy consumption. The results show that life-cycle energy and emissions intensity in CH are higher than those for PH. However, this pattern is reversed when energy requirements are expressed on a per capita basis.

Building construction, operation and maintenance altogether account for nearly a third of global carbon emissions. In Hong Kong, buildings contribute to 90% of electricity consumption and 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficient building has emerged as an effective approach to reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. This paper aims to estimate the energy saving potential of different energy efficient measures for office buildings which are an important sector of commercial buildings in Hong Kong. The energy efficient measures were identified using a four-tier framework covering building envelope, building services, renewable energy and human behaviour. The potentials of the measures in reducing energy consumption were estimated using eQUEST Software. The results show that building services and building envelope are the main areas to be addressed for achieving energy efficient office building design. The use of more efficient HVAC systems and low-emissivity windows are revealed as most favored measures for reducing energy consumption of office buildings in Hong Kong. The findings should inform low energy building design in hot and humid subtropical urban environments.

Preface. Acknowledgments. 1 What Is Commissioning? Building Commissioning. The Building Acquisition Process. What Building Commissioning Is and Is Not. What Building Commissioning Can Do. What Building Commissioning Cannot Do. Total Building Commissioning. References. 2 The Commissioning Process. Commissioning Is a Process. Predesign Phase. Owner's Project Requirements. Commissioning Plan. Design Phase. Basis of Design. Commissioning Plan. Construction Documents. Construction Phase. Equipment and Systems Verification. Training. Systems Manual. Commissioning Plan Updates. Occupancy and Operations Phase. References. 3 The Commissioning Team. Teamwork Is Necessary. The Commissioning Authority. Owner Representatives. Design Team Representatives. Contractor Representatives. Specialists. Commissioning Team Participation Expectations. 4 Commissioning Coordination. The Role of Coordination. Defining and Conveying Project Requirements. Defining and Verifying Design Solutions. Defining and Conveying Construction Verification Requirements. Defining and Conveying Training Requirements. Defining and Conveying Operational Information. Planning for Ongoing Commissioning. References. 5 Verification and Testing. The Importance of Verification. Predesign Phase. Design Phase. Construction Phase. Occupancy and Operations Phase. Reference. 6 Documentation. Commissioning Documentation. The Commissioning Plan. Owner's Project Requirements. Basis of Design. Contract Documents/Construction Documents. Construction Checklists. Training Plan. Systems Manual. Issues Log. Meeting Minutes. Commissioning Process Reports. References. 7 Training. Training Owner's Personnel. The Training Plan. Predesign. Design. Construction. Occupancy and Operations. Reference. 8 Special Commissioning Contexts. Special Contexts? Ongoing Commissioning. Retrocommissioning. Commissioning for Green Buildings. Discipline-Specific Commissioning Guidance. References. Glossary. Commissioning Resources. Index.

This paper constructs a set of energy consumption scenarios for typical expressway construction, operation and maintenance phases, and analyses the energy demand under each scenario. Firstly, a comprehensive lifecycle energy consumption framework for expressway is established, detailing the energy consumption scenarios during construction, operation, and maintenance phases. Secondly, based on literature review and scenario assumptions, the study examines the energy consumption levels under different scenarios and analyses the proportion of energy consumption in each scenario. The results show that the ratio of energy consumption during the construction, operation and maintenance phases of expressway is about 5:10:3. The energy consumption during the construction phase is the highest for the construction of expressway trunk lines, accounting for about 80.6% of the total energy consumption. During the operation phase, fuelling and refuelling stations consume the most energy, accounting for about 71.4%. The energy consumption of expressway trunk lines is the highest during maintenance phase, which accounting for about 70%. This analysis facilitates a deeper understanding of the characteristics of the integration between transportation and energy networks, and assists the transportation sector in achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals in a scientifically sound manner.

As a multi-function method, Building Information Modeling (BIM) can assist construction organizations in improving their project’s quality, optimize collaboration efficiency, and reduce construction periods and expenditure. Given the distinguished contributions of BIM utilization, there is a trend that BIM has significant potential to be utilized in the construction phase of green buildings. Compared with traditional buildings, green buildings have more stringent requirements, including environmental protection, saving energy, and residents’ comfort. Although BIM is deemed an effective method to achieve the abovementioned requirements in the construction process of green buildings, there are few systematic reviews that explore the capabilities of BIM in the construction phase of green buildings. This has hindered the utilization of BIM in the construction of green buildings. To bridge this research gap and review the latest BIM capabilities, this study was developed to perform a systematic review of the BIM capabilities in the construction phase of green buildings. In this systematic review, the PRISMA protocol has been used as the primary procedure for article screening and review. The entire systematic review was performed from January 2022 to April 2022. In this process, 165 articles were included, reviewed, and discussed. Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus were adopted as the databases. Through this systematic review, it can be identified that BIM capabilities have significant advantages in project quality improvement, lifecycle data storage and management, collaboration optimization, planning, and schedule management optimization in the construction phase of green buildings. Through the discussion, it can be concluded that BIM utilization can be adopted from the pre-construction phase to the post-construction stage in the green building construction process. Besides these, the barriers to BIM utilization in the green building construction phase are also revealed in the discussion section, including the non-uniform data format, insufficient interactivity, ambiguous ownership, insufficient BIM training, and hesitation toward BIM adoption. Moreover, the challenges and future directions of BIM utilization in green building construction are identified. The findings of this study can facilitate construction personnel to be acquainted with BIM capabilities in the construction of green buildings to promote the utilization and optimization of BIM capabilities in the green building construction process.

Life cycle energy (LCEA) and carbon dioxide emissions (LCCO2A) assessment of two residential buildings in Gaziantep, Turkey

To ensure the longest and most efficient operation of the building, it is necessary to use the necessary construction equipment correctly and to detect and eliminate all errors and deficiencies in a timely manner. Maintenance of building represents a combination of technical, administrative and managerial activities during the operation of buildings, the priority objective of which is to maintain the required function. Innovative methods and tools supporting the facility management of buildings are increasingly being used in the management and maintenance of buildings. Such innovative technologies also include building information modelling (BIM). BIM provides users with important information and data that help simplify planning, implementation and maintenance of buildings throughout their life cycle. Precisely in the management and maintenance of historical buildings, sufficient data and information are key aspects to eliminate the occurrence of many faults and damage to historical buildings of the monument fund, which is caused by simple neglect of care or inappropriate maintenance. For this purpose, the principles of Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) are increasingly applied in construction practice. As part of the research, will be analysed the current situation in the field of facility management of historic buildings and the current level of knowledge of the term HBIM.

Many studies use life-cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool to quantify the environmental impact of buildings. Most of these studies have focused on the maintenance and operation phases of construction projects, which account for the largest part of energy consumption during the life cycle of buildings. However, the construction phase may cause significant environmental impacts, so a detailed analysis on the construction phase is required to conduct a more accurate assessment of the energy consumption and environmental impact of a building's entire life cycle. To assess energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, this study developed a model using process-based LCA and input-output (I-O) LCA. This study divided the construction phase into material manufacturing, transportation, and on-site construction, and applied an appropriate methodology for each part. The analysis of an apartment building project using the developed model showed that the material manufacturing stage had the largest amount of energy consumption and GHG emissions. Quantitatively, material manufacturing, transportation, and on-site construction phases were responsible for 94.89, 1.08, and 4.03% of energy consumption, and 95.16, 1.76, and 3.08% of global warming potential, respectively. It is believed that the developed model would allow a more accurate assessment of energy consumption and GHG emissions during a building's construction phase. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000199. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Aims: Across the globe, outsourcing services has become more complex and sophisticated. The aim of this study is to establish the level of satisfaction of Nigerian construction firms on outsourced services at construction phase of building with a view to assisting construction firms in their decision on whether to outsourced a particular work section or not.
 Study Design: Survey Research Design.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study took place in Ogun State, Nigeria, between June 2019 and December 2019.
 Methodology: The study focused on outsourcing and targeted at outsourcing services offered during construction phase of building. The research combined a wide-ranging literature review and questionnaire survey. A well-structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to construction firms in Ogun state. A total of 73 of the survey questionnaires were administered out of which 47 representing 64.4% were adequately filled and returned. Data obtained were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean, relative importance index and ranking.
 Results: Findings from the study revealed that piling is the most often outsourced work during construction phase of building, followed by electrical installation, cladding and mechanical installation. The results of the study revealed major reasons for outsourcing to include specialization, technology advancement and core competences. Ability to meet changing needs, service-level contract agreement with outsourcer and excessive dependence on vendor reliability were revealed to be the major challenges that affect the ability of the Nigerian construction firms to successfully outsource services. It was also established that Nigerian construction firms have high level of satisfaction on the outsourced services during the construction phase of building.
 Conclusion: The study suggested that Nigerian construction firms should give consideration to piling, cladding, basement and mechanical installation in outsourcing and concreting, formwork, plumbing installation and roofing in in-house.

Today, the application of green materials in the building industry is the norm rather than the exception and reflects an attempt to mitigate the sector’s environmental impacts. Mass timber is growing rapidly in the construction field because of its long span, speed of installation, lightness and toughness, carbon sequestration capabilities, renewability, fire rating, acoustic isolation, and thermal resistance. Mass timber is close to overtaking steel and concrete as the preferred material. The endeavor of this research is to quantitatively assess the ability of this green material to leverage the abatement of carbon emissions. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a leading method for assessing the environmental impacts of the building sector. The recently completed Adohi Hall mass timber building on the University of Arkansas campus was used as a case study in an investigation to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the construction phase only. The energy used in building operations is the most dominant source of emissions in the building industry and has galvanized research on increasing the efficiency of building operations, but reduced emissions have made the impacts of embodied carbon (EC) components more noticeable in the building life cycle. While most studies have focused on the manufacturing stage, only a few to date have focused on the construction process. Consequently, few data are available on the environmental impacts associated with the installation of mass timber as a new green material. The present study began with the quantification of the materials and an inventory of the equipment used for construction. Then, this study determined the EC associated with running the equipment for building construction. The GHG emissions resulting from the transportation of materials to the site were also quantified. Based on data collected from the construction site, the results of this study indicate that earthwork ranks first in carbon emissions, followed by mass timber installation and construction. In third place is ready-mix poured concrete and rebar installation, followed by Geopiers. A comparison of these results with those in the existing literature shows that the EC generally associated with the building construction phase has been underestimated to date. Furthermore, only emissions associated with the fuel usage of the main equipment were considered.