Sustainability In Built Environment Research Articles

Evaluating future building energy efficiency and environmental sustainability with PCM integration in building envelope

The energy demand in the building sector is anticipated to increase with climate change and the high energy consumption is responsible for releasing enormous amounts of CO2 into the environment, intensifying climate change. Phase change material (PCM) integration into the building envelope has a high potential to reduce the building's energy demand without compromising environmental sustainability. This research investigated the impact of PCMs (PCM 18–PCM 30) on building cooling, heating, and annual energy efficiency for future climate scenarios (2095) in 13 different climate zones worldwide. For this purpose, the Fanger comfort model was implemented and numerical simulations were performed using Energyplus. The performance of PCM was evaluated using novel Predicted Mean Vote fluctuation reductions (PMVFR), and the Total Predicted Mean Vote drop (TPMVD). Further, for the first time, a time series-forecasting model for the estimation of CO2 emissions originating from various energy production sources in the future was developed using gene-expression programming (GEP) algorithm. Finally, the two different maps showing the PCM efficiency for energy conservation and environmental sustainability at the global level are presented. The results evidence a maximum of 12.9% reduction in annual energy demand in the future with the integration of PCM. The GEP-based prediction model demonstrated good accuracy as determined by the statistical parameters and satisfied the external validation requirements. The environmental analysis exhibits that PCM integration can reduce carbon emissions up to 204 CO2-e Kg/year. Overall, the integration of PCM is regarded as a sustainable solution for building energy efficiency, considering climate change.

Comparative study of univariate and multivariate strategy for short-term forecasting of heat demand density: Exploring single and hybrid deep learning models

Accurate short-term forecasting of heating energy demand is needed for achieving optimal building energy management, cost savings, environmental sustainability, and responsible energy consumption. Furthermore, short-term heating energy prediction contributes to zero-energy building performance in cold climates. Given the critical importance of short-term forecasting in heating energy management, this study evaluated six prevalent deep-learning algorithms to predict energy load, including single and hybrid models. The overall best-performing predictors were hybrid models using Convolutional Neural Networks, regardless of whether they were multivariate or univariate. Nevertheless, while the multivariate models performed better in the first hour, the univariate models often were more accurate in the final 24 h. Thus, the best-performing predictor of the first timestep was a multivariate hybrid Convolutional Neural Network–Recurrent Neural Network model with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.98 and the lowest mean absolute error. Yet, the best-performing predictor of the final timestep was the univariate hybrid model Convolutional Neural Network–Long Short-Term Memory with an R² of 0.80. Also, the prediction accuracy of the best-performing multivariate hybrid models reduced faster per hour compared to the univariate models. These findings suggest that multivariate models may be better suited for early timestep predictions, while univariate models may be better suited for later time steps. Hence, combining the models can enhance accuracy at various timesteps for achieving high fidelity in forecasting and offering a comprehensive tool for energy management.

Biomimetic Architecture: An Innovative Approach to Attain Sustain-ability in Built Environment

Architecture has always inserted itself into and interacted with the nature Environment. Biomimetics is an applied science that infers motivation for answer for human issues through the investigation of common plan from nature. Biomimetic is used in design for many years. It is the fastest Growing Research in the Area of Architecture. This is because of the innovative and problem-solving approach to Achieve Sustainability in Design. However, Application of Biomimetic Design to achieve Sustainability requires a proper understanding of relation between Biology and environmental science. The Review of Achievement by the use of biomimetic Architecture could make easier for understanding relation between biomimetic ecosystem and the built environment and therefore contribute to environmental sustainability. This Paper elaborates the Different Approach to Attain Sustainability through different literature Study and Case Study. These Varied Approaches have different outcomes in terms of sustainability.
 Keywords: Sustainable Architecture, Biomimetic Architecture, Built Environment, Ecosystem.

Managing Facilities in Historic Buildings: A Stewardship-Based Strategy for Long-Term Socio-economic Value

The challenges of historic building adaption for reuse are well documented and often refer to building fabric, listed status, historical significance, environmental sustainability, and structural layout as limitations to their successful re-development. However, few studies have explored how such issues manifest in the operational use of historic buildings developed for reuse, the significance on cities, and the long-term socioeconomic value. This study proposes a stewardship-based strategy to manage facilities to improve the socioeconomic value of historic buildings and support the socioeconomic demand in cities and territories. Within the context of a selected case study in the UK, a mixed-method approach was used to attain the data. Quantitative evidence, using a questionnaire survey with building users, and qualitative evidence, using semi-structured interviews with the facility management team, are presented. The results suggest that historic buildings are empowered by an organisational stewardship strategy, resulting in an acceptable operational compromise that involves an acceptance of building issues and their impact on the building users’ experience, and this can support the more operational adaption of facilities by the facility management team. The research proposes a stewardship-based strategy to support an improved socioeconomic value by incorporating user perspectives while ensuring a less preservation-centred and a more flexible-oriented approach towards managing facilities in historic buildings. This study constructively forms a base for further research into facility management strategies in historic buildings and their impact on cities’ needs.

Innovating Bhutan's residential construction with mass timber for economic and environmental sustainability

The global construction industry lacks innovation and contributes substantially to world energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. This study posits emerging mass timber construction (MTC) as an innovative alternative to Bhutan's archetype mid-rise residential structure, focusing on voluminous assemblages of wall and structural systems. Using an analytical approach, we compared the existing concrete building's essential economic and environmental sustainability with its hypothetical MTC equivalent. The economics focused on the life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA), while the environment focused on the embodied energy and CO2 emissions, estimated using the process-based method in a cradle-to-gate boundary limit. The environmental assessment unsurprisingly showed superior performances for the mass timber buildings relative to the conventional concrete ones. In contrast, the LCCA showed that mass timber buildings had material and built-up costs greater than concrete buildings by 30 and 38%, respectively, which is driven primarily by the high cost of timber in Bhutan. However, the scenario analyses regarding the end-of-life benefits and timber price reduction possibilities presented irrefutable evidence that the construction costs of MTC are cheaper or competitive with the concrete option. Integrating economics and environmental assessment establishes mass timber building as a viable innovative alternative, providing essential information to building developers and policymakers.

A Comparative Analysis of Rating Systems for Sustainability in Built Environment

The impact of rapid urbanization affected the quality of the environment globally. Apart from consuming 40% of energy 20% of water, the construction industry generates 30% of solid waste and 20% of wastewater which poses significant environmental change and affects the quality of life. In India, three primary rating systems, LEED, GRIHA & BEE, emerged with a holistic approach to achieving Sustainability in the built environment with a framework for healthy, highly efficient, minimal generation of non-degradable waste and cost-saving green buildings.These rating systems can be adapted to both new and existing built environments. This paper is a part of the research study with broader objectives 1) to compare the rating systems and identify critical parameters 2). to identify the role in the adaptation of the rating system with/for local challenges and opportunities. 3) to discuss the potential role of rating systems in various stages of design, execution, operation, and maintenance, on the whole-pre- and post-construction 4) To assist in preparing a tool to an ensemble that can satisfy three pillars of the Sustainability in built environment. This paper discusses the credit system and certifications based on mandatory and optional criteria among the various rating systems. Only the first objective is addressed and briefly reported in this paper. The rating system may also be developed by including socio-economic and climatic aspects.

Ways to attract investment in green companies in Russia

Within the framework of the presented publication, the author considers the issue of investing in green companies. This topic is relevant, since the preservation of the environment is one of the main tasks at the present time. The author believes that the development of green companies is becoming an integral part of the economy and requires significant attention from the government. The essence of green investment, according to the author, is to reduce the negative impact of economic activity on the environment. It is noted that the introduction of environmentally friendly technologies can lead to a high level of costs, but in the long term they can help increase profits and be widely distributed in society. Green investments, in turn, contribute to the sustainable development of the economy, as they reduce the cost of energy and other resources, increase the productivity of the enterprise and reduce the negative impact of economic activities on the environment. The author focuses on the fact that green investors who invest in green projects consider projects not only from the point of view of their profitability, but first of all evaluate them from the point of view of a positive impact on societies. In accordance with this, there is a classification of investors, which is presented within the framework of this publication. In addition, the article presents a number of advantages specific to investing in green companies. In general, investing in green companies is beneficial not only in terms of building environmental sustainability, but also for investors who will receive financial and reputational benefits. The article also lists Russian companies that produce green products and also support ESG principles

A localized adaptive comfort model for free-running low-income housing in Mumbai, India

The nexus of thermal comfort, affordability, and resilient buildings is receiving great attention in the rapidly urbanizing world. Understanding the thermal comfort needs, and preferences of the low-income population are crucial in developing an equitable approach to fight climate change and meet sustainable development goals. However, thermal comfort is a contextual construct that requires a localized rather than a universal one-size-fits-all approach. This study proposes a novel AdaptiveComfort forLow-Income Housing (ACL) model for the free-running low-income housing of Mumbai, India through a longitudinal field study method. 6266 observations from low-income housing located within the warm humid region were gathered to examine the thermal comfort conditions of the vulnerable population. Lower thermal sensitivity and a wider comfort temperature band of 25.1 °C to 31.9 °C for occupants were observed as compared to their affluent counterparts. The existing national and international comfort standards proved to be ineffective in predicting comfort conditions for Indian low-income occupants. The localized ACL model developed here is a first-of-its-kind attempt in the Indian context toward improving thermal comfort and built environment sustainability in low-income housing.

Developing Methodological Framework for Addressing Sustainability and Heritage in Architectural Higher Education—Insights from HERSUS Project

This paper addresses the challenges of architectural higher education to cope with a state of continuous change within the relationship between heritage and sustainability. The initial assumption is that research activities based on design taxonomies—terms used in architectural discourse of heritage and sustainability—followed by fruitful analysis and discussion can contribute to the advancements in curricula design and development. Accordingly, the paper aims to develop a new methodological framework for addressing sustainability and heritage, enriching curricula design and assessment strategy. Data collection on identification and analysis of terms was carried out within the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership titled Enhancing of Heritage Awareness and Sustainability of Built Environment in Architectural and Urban Design Higher Education (HERSUS). After the process of filtering, interpretation, and comparison of project findings, a three-fold comprehensive analysis was conducted: (a) learning outcome quantitative analysis, (b) cross-cutting analysis of spatial scales and course types, and (c) synthesis. The paper results in the methodological framework that reinforces different pedagogical approaches to heritage and sustainability derived as a result of the applied research process. The main conclusions are concerned with the applicability of the methodological framework, designed for the improvement of existing and development of new comprehensive courses and programme contents.

Degrowth Perspective for Sustainability in Built Environments

Degrowth, as a social movement, a political project, and an academic paradigm, aims to find ways that can lead to harmonious co-existence between humanity and nature, between humans and non-humans, and within humanity, including oneself. Seen through the lens of degrowth, everything becomes subject to reflection, critique, re-evaluation, and re-imagining. This concerns environments created by humans in a long process of interaction with nature, i.e., built environments. Built environments are always in becoming. This entry contemplates the implications of degrowth for intentionally directing this becoming towards genuine sustainability.

Toward a Value-Driven Framework for Built Environment Sustainability: Investigating the Recent Developments through the Design Paradigm

Toward a Value-Driven Framework for Built Environment Sustainability: Investigating the Recent Developments through the Design Paradigm

A Study of The Practical Use of Green Engineering-Based Technology for Building Sustainability: Users’ Perspective

Sustainable construction has been the main priority in the global construction industry. For that reason, Malaysia is moving towards green building approach to promote built environment sustainability. Therefore, it is essential to raise awareness about the environmental-responsible practice among construction players particularly on the implementation of green engineering-based technology. This study aims to explore the existing green engineering-based technology and to investigate the preferred green engineering-based technology to upgrade the sustainability of existing residential buildings. The study focuses on the existing technology to be incorporated in the operation of buildings. A comprehensive literature review was carried out and 384 feedback was collected from questionnaire survey distribution among respondents in Johor Bahru. Various green engineering-based technology includes solar energy, wastewater treatment, rainwater harvesting, window shading, housing landscape, natural ventilation, smart PDLC film glasses, roof thermal insulation, and smart home control panel are discussed in this paper. From this study, it was found that that the housing landscape is the most preferred with the highest mean index value followed by daylighting system and solar panel. The results indicate the preferred green engineering-based technology is because of low cost and familiarity among users. The future study should consider relating the awareness of individuals on sustainability with their preferred green technology. Perhaps, the coverage of this study should be extended by involving respondents from all over Malaysia.

Evidence-informed health care infrastructures: test of SustHealthv2 tool on hospital pilot cases

Abstract Background Healthcare facilities are important node of health systems and several scholars from Public Health and health service field highlighted that high quality and sustainable built environment is fundamental in providing high quality health care services. Nevertheless, most hospital buildings are obsolete, not adequate to contemporary organizational models; additionally, none of the existing quality improvement tools systematically evaluate the built environment. Therefore, the study develops an evidence-informed weighted multicriteria tool and tested it on two pilot case study. Methods Starting from previous literature reviews and scenario analysis, different indicators for hospital quality assessment have been grouped in 17 criteria and 3 macro areas, validated through semi-structured interviews and weighted with Multicriteria Simon Roy Figueras (MCDA-SRF) and Deck Card Method (DCM). The weighted tool SustHealthv2 has been tested on two medium sized hospital pilot case studies (H1 and H2) in northern Italy. Results The tool is composed by three macro areas: Social, Environmental and Organizational qualities respectively accounting for 22%, 29% and 49%. The application and test of the tool highlighted transversal criticalities such as Sustainable Accessibility (H1=0.04/0.16; H2=0.11/0.16), Sensitization and Education (H1=0.06/0.18; H2=0.10/0.18). The most recent case study (H1) was able to achieve higher scores in energy (0.15/0.0.19), waste management (0.07/0.07), as well as future proofing characteristics (0.20/0.23) compared to the older one. Overall H1 scored higher in all the macro areas reaching a total fulfillment of 72/100, while H2 scored 52/100. Conclusions The application of SustHealth v2 on operating health care facilities can support hospital management in defining strategic area of improvements and investments for hospital building renovation providing higher level of services to patients, users and staff. Key messages Built environment for healthcare needs systematic evaluation frameworks to improve and contribute to health service quality. SustHealth v2 is an evidence-informed multicriteria framework for hospital built environment sustainability and quality assessment from social, environmental and organizational perspective.

Net zero adaptation—a review of built environment sustainability assessment tools *

Abstract In the context of the built environment there has been a greater focus of research and policy on climate mitigation efforts, compared with adaptation. Buildings designed today will likely need upgrades within their lifetime if adaptation is not adequately considered. There is currently no widely adopted system for assessing building adaptation in design and clearer guidance is needed. By way of example, a review of three established, geographically diverse building sustainability assessment tools (BREEAM, Green Star and LEED) demonstrates the extent that adaptation to climate change and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions have been integrated. Despite recent assessment updates, emphasis on action pertaining to climate issues is heavily weighted towards mitigation; the integration of adaptation considerations is limited and in most cases not mandatory. This state of play in assessment tools is reflective of wider shortfalls in meaningfully addressing climate change risk in asset design. To ensure that asset investment considers climate-related impacts in a holistic manner, better mechanisms for achieving an integrated perspective of mitigation and adaptation are required.

Built Environment Sustainability Between Ethical Responsibility and Obligatory Laws.(Dept.A)

Built environment activities is one of the sectors which has significant effects on the environment, so everybody involved in those activities ought to consider the environmental problems, and to try to adopt and to develop policies and thinking methods to achieve harmony between urbanization and environmental needs. The paper hypothesize that the way to achieve the harmony between urbanization and environmental needs depends on two elements: - External control, through laws and regulations which ensure the efficiency of the urbanization projects. - Self control, through designer's environmental conscious and his ethical responsibility which extend to embody the responsibility toward the environment and next generations. The paper aims to study the potential ways of highlighting environmental issues in architectural practices, The pap er consists of four parts: First one contains the research's problem and its aim. hypothesis, and methodology. The second is an exp loration of the relation between environment and the built environment. In the third part the p aper reviews environmental regulations and Ethical Responsibility as tools to achieve the harmony between urbanization and environmental needs. The last part studies the role of designer's environmental conscious as a base for Ethical Responsibility, this part also argue the possibilities to develop the designer's environmental conscious .Finally, the research conclude that Ethical Responsibility of everybody of the society may have the primary role in the built environment sustainability, so this issue ought to be the primary approach to emphasize the environmental issues in urban and architectural practices.

A whole life cycle performance-based ECOnomic and ECOlogical assessment framework (ECO2) for concrete sustainability

Concrete is the primary building material worldwide with a substantial impact on the built environment sustainability. Hence, it is necessary to assess concrete’s combined functionality, economic and environmental impact. In this paper, two concrete sustainability assessment frameworks, MARS-SC and CONCRETop, were studied. Building on the identified gaps, a new framework, ECO2 was developed. ECO2 is a multi-criteria decision analysis framework that accounts for carbon sequestration of concrete, impact allocation of raw materials, and the impact from the use and end-of-life phases. Hence, it could be used to optimize the proportions of a concrete mix based on a user-defined sustainability objective. A case study concluded that, due to the whole life cycle scope, the environmental impact calculated through ECO2 is 20% higher than that by MARS-SC and CONCRETop. In case of reinforced concrete, where service life requirements are different, the ranking of the alternatives according to ECO2 will significantly change comparatively.

Embracing organisational environmental sustainability: Experiences in green human resource management

AbstractThis qualitative study explores the experiences of the managers and employees of electrical and electronics companies in moving towards environmental sustainability with the support of Green Human Resource Management. Based on 12 in‐depth interviews, the data were thematically analysed by using NVivo 12 plus software, with three main themes emerging as embarking on environmental sustainability, building environmental sustainability, and embracing environmental sustainability. This study uses the resource‐based theory as the theoretical lens, and results indicate that the company practises Green Human Resource Management, particularly green employee involvement and participation, green training, green rewards, and green orientation for achieving its environmental sustainability efforts. Most importantly, the results highlight that NGOs, organisational culture, and effective communication are vital in supporting Green Human Resource Management implementation in attaining environmental sustainability goals. The findings of this study have implications for other developing countries, which are striving to achieve their environmental and sustainability goals.

Blue-Green Smart Mobility Technologies as Readiness for Facing Tomorrow’s Urban Shock toward the World as a Better Place for Living (Case Studies: Songdo and Copenhagen)

Nowadays, we are on the cusp of a future that will face many global challenges and crises, as well as unforeseeable shocks of tomorrow. The rapid growth and development of technology will bring forth exponential change that may challenge and threaten our human psychology. Solutions and policies are needed to deal with today’s challenges, tomorrow’s shocks, and global crises to preserve the world and mankind for the future. In this research, Blue-Green sustainable mobility technologies are introduced as a pathway to create modern sustainable and livable urban areas to tackle these challenges. Clean and inclusive mobility, based on Blue-Green and sustainable infrastructure, low emission greenhouse gases, ubiquitous computing, smartness and digitalization is realized as one of the keys that could make the world a better place for living. This research examines inclusive transportation technology, its indicators and its impacts on creating modern livable urban areas with high a quality of life as a pathway to navigate the cusp of tomorrow. Furthermore, the roles of technology such as Information Technology, Internet of Things, Internet of Business, Internet of Manufacturing, and Internet of Energy as technology tools to develop such mobility is investigated. Literature reviews, surveys, case studies—including Songdo as a ubiquitous city and Copenhagen as a digital and clean city—and revised versions of Kiwi and Kampenhood and BESQoL (built environment sustainability and quality of life) methodologies are the main methods in this study. New concepts of mobility technology and eventuating cultural synergies, as a readiness for facing tomorrow’s world crises with a higher quality of life and well-being by using the 5th wave theory, are discussed.

Reading underused urban spaces: Aberdeen views

This paper explores the application of a combination of urban analysis methods in order to gather data and explore the implications of abandonment in a city. Nowadays, in a period of economic recession, developments based on demolitions and reconstructions, are not always suitable. The direction of this paper includes the idea of existing areas, buildings and their reuse as a main and primary starting point of the built environment sustainability. The research uses Aberdeen, Scotland, as a case study. Within the research, the concept of urban abandonment is explored across three subcategories, which enable the clarification of differences between various urban conditions and features.The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that a certain combination of qualitative methods can enable a detailed exploration of the current urban situation. This detailed information enabled to gather more empirical quantitative data based on the consideration raised from the analysis. The work is original in that it seeks to combine theories of abandonment with the spatial assessment of urban environments, and thus holds the potential to carry significance within urban design and planning practice.

The sustainable built environment maintained by the Betawian traditional house’s faithfulness in local wisdom

The uniqueness of construction and building process influences the purpose of form, generally recognized by local wisdom. Occasionally climate will not influence the building it follows, custom-tradition and environment condition that determine the differences of characteristics in responding to the climate. There are three elements to consider in architectural discipline: Nature as a place that influences the building; Building as a product to fulfill human necessity to stay in nature, and human as user, occupant, designer or builder. Those elements are inseparable, as they link to each other. Consequently it is important to take into account the environmental conditions when establish building and dwelling. Beside that it is necessary for house residents to obey and follow the stipulation regulated by local custom or tradition. The Betawian house is traditional house that maintains the built environment sustainability it is faithfulness in the local wisdom. For instance the house has veranda as a respond to the climate. For that reasons the author conducted this research with the following hypothesis “the fidelity to local wisdom in supporting the traditional house’s response to the climate” with descriptive-qualitative methodology. The discussion included the theory of traditional architecture in Indonesia, the Betawian ethnic house; the tropical architecture-building theory and the sustainable architecture theory. Findings showed the decrease a number of housing and dwelling that use of local wisdom as a response to the climate changes. One of the research goals was to preserve the local wisdom by maintaining the traditional house and teaching the house resident to preserve. Publishing a journal article is a way to raise the awareness of the built environment sustainability.