Building Movement Research Articles

Unleashing the Power of Civil Society: Examining the Impact of the Saudi Green Building Forum in Advancing Eco-friendly Construction in Saudi Arabia

This paper delves into the role of civil society in propelling green building practices, one key to a sustainable future. It focuses on the Saudi Green Building Forum (SGBF) “in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, since 2017” as a case study that illuminates how civil society organizations contribute to environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic prosperity in the construction sector. The concept of green building is traced from its origins through its global development, explicitly emphasizing notable examples from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Saudi Arabia. The paper reassures the audience by outlining the unique and robust alignment of SGBF’s initiatives and its support for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), underscoring its commitment to global sustainability. The study presents a descriptive analysis based on desktop research, illustrating the transformative impact of civil society in promoting sustainable construction practices through the SGBF. Key aspects covered include the historical evolution of the green building movement, successful implementations of green building standards, and the activation of civil society institutions and organizations in driving sustainability. The paper showcases SGBF’s strategies and projects as exemplary models of civil society’s contribution to greening the built environment and fostering a sustainable future in Saudi Arabia and beyond. The objective is to inspire by highlighting civil society’s far-reaching impact on the construction sector’s environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainable development.

Green Building Certification in Educational Facility

Abstract This study evaluates energy saving in campus facilities toward green building certification by evaluating existing energy consumption, water consumption, and material usage. It supports the green building movement primarily from the education sector to respond to government regulations. The assessment was conducted through EDGE-App, an open-access building performance software developed by IFC, in the Integrated Creative Education Learning Laboratory (i–CELL) Building. EDGE-App calculates the energy savings in the building by comparing the difference between EDGE’s base case and the i-CELL building as the improved case. The variables calculated in this research are energy consumption, water conservation, and material recovery. This building performs 70% energy savings, 42% water savings, and 48% less embodied energy in materials—thus, it was granted an EDGE Advanced Green Building Certification. Furthermore, this study can inform engineers, designers, developers, and other parties about saving energy and optimizing water and recyclable materials in campus facilities.

SUSTAINABLE GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVES IN MALAYSIA: ISSUES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PRACTICES

In recent years, green building practices have received tremendous global attention for their ability to protect the environment and foster sustainable development, and Malaysia, one of the fastest-growing countries, is enthusiastically embracing the green building movement. However, throughout the construction period of this green building, many issues occurred that contributed to the deterioration of the performance of the building itself. This research aims to identify the main issues faced by green building projects in Malaysia to ensure the performance of the building can be maintained and improved, by using a questionnaire survey that collects the views of 72 experienced participants. The findings reveal that operation and maintenance are urgent issues that need to be addressed in Malaysian green building projects, underscoring the need for policy intervention. Overall, this study can support the regulation of green building maintenance, underlining the critical nature of recognizing and addressing these issues collectively to foster the growth and success of green building initiatives in the Malaysian construction industry, thereby contributing to a more sustainable construction environment throughout the country.

‘Architectural Design for Procuring Thermal Comfort’: Hassan Fathy, Nubia, and Desert Building

As part of an indigenous building movement in the Global South, the United Nations published two books by Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy (1900–89): one on building ‘for the poor’ and the other on passive cooling in vernacular architecture from hot environments. Using his correspondence, reports, designs, published writings, and built forms, this article tracks Fathy’s changing use of a crucial technique, mud-brick vaulting, that he learned in Nubia, an area of Egypt’s arid south largely destroyed by dams in the twentieth century. I show how Fathy mined Nubia rhetorically and materially to use, and later attempt to copyright, its residents’ ‘instinctive’ skills for living in hot arid lands. Over time, Fathy’s appropriations helped to transform Nubia’s vernacular morphology into a universal commons of desert and ‘Islamic’ forms, which enabled him to expand the geographic scope of his practice into the Arabian Peninsula in Oman and Saudi Arabia and into the southwestern United States.

Architectural design and managerial control: Lefebvre, Latour and the process of enrollment

Organizational scholarship on architecture often applies Henri Lefebvre’s conceived, perceived, and lived framework. Karen Dale and Gibson Burrell, most notably, have illustrated how architectural design exploits each of these, exerting managerial control through processes of enchantment, emplacement, and enactment. Although this “3E framework” has been productively applied to buildings from the modern and postmodern periods, its weaknesses become apparent in the current occupant-centric design period. Drawing on Actor Network Theory’s account of translation, we propose enrollment—a 4th “E”—which enables us to better capture the nature of spatial control in the occupant-centric design period. Our 4E expanded spatial control framework recognizes the tensions that Lefebvre originally observed, tensions concealed by Dale and Burrell’s otherwise rightly influential work. This expanded framework also augments our understanding of modern and postmodern periods: the dominant Building Movements of the past Century, we claim, have each engaged in a recursive enrollment of socio-political ideals.

Effects of the interplay between topology and function of an integrated urban development on patterns of user movement

With the advent of distributed multi-sensory networks of devices, vast troves of real-time data can be gathered about our interactions with the built environment. These rich data sets can be mined to achieve improved and informed data-driven designs of buildings, neighborhoods, and potentially entire cities. Among those, integrated developments have the peculiarity of combining multiple functions within a compact space and, as such, behave as microcosms of a city that can help address the problem of urban sprawl and density. However, a general lack of data and framework about integrated developments hinders our ability to test design hypotheses about the complex interplay between heterogeneity in both space and function. Here, we apply a data-driven approach to analyze the joint influence of topology and function on user movement within a state-of-the-art integrated development in Singapore. Specifically, we leverage the network representation of the building and use movement data collected from 51 individuals over a month. We show evidence of correlation (40%) between the spatial network features and human movement at the building level. We are also able to quantify the relationship between the functional and spatial components of the integrated development through user movement. Previous studies have shown a 60% or higher correlation between the topology and human movement at the city or country scales. Our moderate correlation, therefore, implies that more factors influencing user movement are at play. The heterogeneity in the spatial function introduced trips with diverse origins and destinations. A further data-driven analysis integrating origins and destinations reveals both qualitative and quantitative means of studying the relationship between the built environment and the processes that take place in them.

Early Modern Imaginations of the Nation and Their Insights: An Examination Centered on Liang Qichao and Liang Shuming

Chinese people have formed a rich vision of the “nation,” with Liang Qichao and Liang Shuming serving as representative figures, throughout the process of moving from “all under heaven” to “nation.” The two Liangs’ imaginations show different traits as well as consistency. The two Liangs’ modern national imaginations stand out for their interaction between “people” and “country” in terms of imaginative features. Regarding continuity, Liang Shuming’s rural building movement may be understood as the application of Liang Qichao’s theoretical vision. Nonetheless, the opposition faced by the rural building movement highlights the challenges this imagination has in attempting to come to pass. In light of the ‘national’ imagination and associated practices of early modern Chinese society, what becomes clear is that, against the backdrop of historical transitions, an idealistic national imagination can, in fact, serve as a conceptual basis for national construction as well as an uplifting and guiding force. However, the challenge and secret to creating a modern nation is understanding how to organize the “people” to forge a concrete bond with the “country.” Examining and considering these ideas and actual initiatives is still very significant for nation-building in the modern day.

DEVELOPMENT OF A VIRTUAL REALITY APPLICATION FOR A HISTORIC VILLA AND THREE CONSTRUCTION PHASES

Abstract. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming increasingly important and popular. This technology is widely used in various fields such as industry, construction, architecture, medicine and scientific research. With the rapid development of VR technology, the cost of the required hardware is decreasing, making this technology available to a wider range of users. VR applications offer many opportunities to present different topics in a novel and informative way. This paper presents the development of a VR application for the "Villa Michaelsen" (hosting the Falkenstein Doll Museum) in Hamburg, Germany for the 100 years anniversary. It offers the possibility to move in and around the architectural historic building, designed and built 1923 by the architect Karl Schneider, a representative of the New Building Movement, and to look at different information, photos as well as construction phases and drafts.

Surface Movement and Stability Analysis of Buildings above Mined-out Areas

Surface Movement and Stability Analysis of Buildings above Mined-out Areas

Noise and structural vibration assessment of the Qubit 360 partition wall system

High-rise buildings can be highly susceptible to the action of dynamic loads produced by the action of wind and earthquakes. Creaky noise towers can be a major, and often overlooked, consideration in the design and operation of new developments. A reliable and considered approach to assessing creaky towers is needed to achieve relevant standards and to minimize environmental impacts on buildings and structures. In collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology and Traxx Metal Framing Systems, our team tested the structure-borne noise and vibration responses of a lightweight prototype implementing a patented vibration isolation system for building movements, Qubit 360. The primary goal of this research work was to refine, develop, and test this innovative system that can be used in multi-storey constructions and confirm the structural and vibro-acoustic behavior during a loading series of lateral drift simulating the movement of a building. Monitoring a structure with the Multi-Axis Substructure Testing System under the dynamics effects of different loading events allowed our team to understand the dynamic behavior of a lightweight prototype, and improve its safety, reliability, performance, and comfort. The proposed abstract will focus on an overview of the process involved in the laboratory and will present the vibro-acoustics results for a number of different specimens that implement the isolation system.

A Comparison of Typical Green Building Evaluation SystemsTaking China, UK and USA as Examples

The international investigation of green buildings is steadily transitioning from simple concepts to practice, and the assessment criteria for enhancing green buildings are conducive to enhancing the understanding of green buildings' healthy development. By following the green building movement, this research examines the fundamental meanings of green building systems in China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The paper analyzes a variety of potential new issues. For instance, the current green building assessment system has a small number of problems and limitations, and the formation of a system suitable for national conditions and flexible operation is currently a larger problem. Through analysis of the problem, the direction of work to implement the green building system and improve the fundamental concept of China's green building system will be suggested.

Policy Implementation of the Village Building Movement in West Java Province

One of the priorities of the West Java Provincial Government is the Village Development Movement (Village Gate). Gates of the Village is a movement to create an independent village, namely a village that is able to build and empower village communities by optimizing the utilization of all village potential, both natural resources, human resources and village infrastructure, through collaboration between the government, community and other stakeholders. The portrait of the implementation of the village development movement policy has not been effective in supporting the achievement of the target of a champion village in West Java Province, this is still found in the Dominant Poor Population in the Village, more Unemployment in the Village, 18 Villages Still lagging behind in Cianjur, Karawang and Tasikmalaya Regencies and only 50 percent villages implementing the Village Financial System. This study uses Muchlis Hamdi's theory (2014) with qualitative methods to understand the depth of the problem. This theory does not merely stand alone, it is also compared with other theories as a complement. Data collection methods were carried out through literature studies, field studies (observations), interviews, focus group discussions, and triangulation data analysis. Informants and resource persons were selected based on their competence on issues related to this research issue. All of the instruments used are expected to be able to get good results. This study found that in addition to the dimensions of productivity, linearity and efficiency of the policy implementation model based on Muchlis Hamdi's theory, a strategy is needed to encourage policy substance, implementing task behavior, network interaction, target group participation, and resources in implementing village development movement policies in the Province West Java. The strategy for implementing the village development movement policy includes elements of collaboration, transparency and innovation. The findings of this study illustrate that in order to create a champion village through the strategy of implementing the village building movement in West Java Province, a Triangel Coltin strategy (collaboration, transparency and innovation) is needed, where the collaboration strategy is carried out using the pentahelix approach by involving academia, the business world, community, government and media . The transfer strategy is to provide education to the community (educate citizen), consult with the community (Delibaretion Partner Community) and always monitor the implemented policies (Monitor Polcies).

Promoting Urban Health through the Green Building Movement in Vietnam: An Intersectoral Perspective

The health of urban citizens is largely defined by how their living environments are planned, built, and operated, but scientific and policy discourse about sustainable building has often ignored this. Furthermore, while the complex relations between health and the characteristics of built environments require system-orientated thinking and interdisciplinary interventions, they have—until recently—mainly been addressed with conventionally narrow sector-based (mostly technocratic) approaches (e.g., in regard to energy efficiency or carbon reduction). This paper, however, investigates how health co-benefits are perceived by stakeholders in the field of sustainable building in Vietnam. It examines empirical insights collected from a large-scale household survey—with a focus on a green building-certified project case study—conducted in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, six thematic webinars, and eleven expert interviews. Among other things, the paper points out a challenging mismatch between the high importance homebuyers place on green building health benefits, and the focus of stakeholders on energy-saving benefits, which are not necessarily the homebuyers’ most pressing concerns. Therefore, the paper concludes that improved health and well-being should be more strongly considered as co-benefits of green buildings. Equally important is that this paper also brings attention to the essential systemic approach in both academic and practical efforts toward the implementation of the SDG3, to “ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all ages”, and SDG 11, “to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.

Radical Restorative Justice of The People's CDC

Four days before the 2022 State of the Union address, the CDC made a change to the risk-prevention pandemic map of the United States that changed the color of the map from red to green. Before the change, the CDC worked with guidelines that identified a substantially high risk as 50 cases per 100,000 people. After the change, the low risk category became 200 cases per 100,000 - a significant diminution of the calculation. As the People’s CDC notes, “The resulting shift from a red map to a green one reflected no real reduction in transmission risk. It was a resort to rhetoric: an effort to craft a success story that would explain away hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths and the continued threat the virus poses.” The People’s CDC, a collaborative of volunteer health experts who offer policy recommendations and guidance around COVID-19 issues, reframes the official US responses to the global health crisis by disseminating critical information via social media. On their website People’s CDC identify their collaborative project: “working alongside community organizations, we are building collective power and centering equity as we work together to end the pandemic.” In this presentation, I situate the equity-focused work of the People’s CDC within restorative justice and world building movements. Using their “layered, collective, and equitable” social media publications as a guide, I employ recent research on collective action to analyze the ways that the People’s CDC resists the hegemonic inequities embedded in state run public health systems and corporate mass media by redeploying and rewriting the rhetorical strategies of those systems. I argue that the People’s CDC’s ethos of care and collaboration is employing restorative world building practices as a response to global crisis. As they say, “We must urgently create a new normal in which commitment to community care drives policy and behavior. This charge requires sustained and collective action.”

Seismic-induced permanent displacement estimation combining acceleration and computer vision measurements

In this study, a seismic-induced permanent displacement estimation technique that combines acceleration and computer vision measurements was proposed. The proposed technique involves installing a vision camera and an accelerometer on a target building, with the vision camera capturing the change in the position of surrounding objects after a seismic event to estimate the permanent displacement of the target building. During the installation, the vision camera and accelerometer were vibrated in a controlled manner using a shaker on the target building. Then, in the absence of any artificial target or prior knowledge of the size of natural targets, an automatic scale factor map was generated, which converts a translation of an image (in pixels) into a physical displacement. After an earthquake, a displacement map was constructed to estimate the relative movement of the target building to the natural targets and then clustered using Gaussian mixture modeling. Finally, the undeformed portions of the natural targets were retrieved to estimate the permanent displacement of the target building with respect to the distribution of the natural target movement. Both indoor and outdoor experiments were conducted to validate the performance of the proposed technique. The results demonstrate the improved performance of the proposed technique compared with the previous technique.

The problem with net zero building policy: reflecting on the making, and future, of a global discourse

The Paris Agreement made net zero emissions a global target. In response, net zero carbon building standards have proliferated, making net zero a popular target for buildings. But to meaningfully contribute to global decarbonization efforts, net zero standards and the organizations who promote them, must be deemed legitimate. Given the building industry’s reputation for being highly fragmented and slow to change, how has this legitimacy been constructed? What are the implications of this legitimation process? This article seeks to answer these questions by exploring the narratives used by the World Green Building Council (WGBC) to legitimate Net Zero Carbon Buildings (NZCB) from 2015 to 2021. Our analysis is based on over 100 documents produced by the WGBC and 22 interviews with WGBC and Green Building Council representatives, policymakers, and industry actors. Results reveal six main storylines adopted by the WGBC to extend the legitimacy of sustainable green building movement actors to the new net zero governance space. This legitimation process allows the WGBC to develop and implement net zero standards quickly, but also creates tensions between efficiency and procedural integrity, potential and proven results, corporate and collective value. While NZCB are here to stay, these tensions highlight barriers to their wide-scale adoption and question their ability to deliver an economically viable, socially just, environmental, net zero transition.

The Effect of Health Promotion Strategies on the Level of Clean and Healthy Living Behavior (PHBS) in Household Settings in Penanggalan Sub-district of Subulussalam

Clean and healthy living behavior is essentially the basis for preventing humans from various diseases. Health is everyone's dream and need. The principle of clean and healthy living behavior (PHBS) is one of the cornerstones and health development programs in Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of health promotion strategies (advocacy, atmosphere building, and community empowerment movements) on the level of Clean and Healthy Living Behavior (PHBS) in Household Settings in Subulussalam City Subdistrict. The population of this study was all heads of families in Penanggalan Kota Subulussalam District. The sample of this study is part of the heads of families from the number of heads of families in Penanggalan District, which is 14,394 households. Measurement of independent variables using the Likert Scale, with some conditions. The results showed that PHBS most respondents (56 people, 56%) were in the Healthy II category, followed by Healthy IV as many as 25 respondents (25%), healthy III as many as 14 respondents (14%), and healthy I as many as 5 respondents (5%). This condition shows that most respondents have not met the healthy category standards set by the Ministry of Health, namely PHBS healthy category IV.

Undermining the Familiar and Embodiment Content in Arabic Calligraphy

Contrary to deconstruction and its destructive pursuit, the concept of undermining the familiar seeks to refute the constants and its known limitations. It is done through the process of receiving and what is imposed by the formation of the word or text or the structural and design structure in general, along with the Arabic calligraphy in particular. This is based on the recipient's understanding and interpretation of the dual phenomenon and the content's manifestation. More accurately, the disclosure of its reality through its expressive phenomenology; for that sake, the research was devoted to studying “undermining the familiar and embodiment content in Arabic calligraphy” including four chapters. The first chapter comprised the methodological introduction, the second chapter dealt with the concept of undermining the familiar and its representations in Arabic calligraphy, and to embodiment the content along with its use in Arabic calligraphy. While, the third chapter represented the research procedures and the community reached (32) compositions, in which the analysis concluded several results. The fourth chapter clarified the most important concept. The sample calligraphers were able to focus on the design relationships of the theoretical framework. The current study acquainted with undermining the familiar and embodiment of the content for those concerned and interested in the art of Arabic calligraphy, it also focused to benefit from the energies of letters and their constructive movements in building, modernizing, and renewing the arts of Arabic calligraphy. Moreover, the research also suggested studying the design treatments in order to embody the content in the formations of Arabic calligraphy.

Construction Cost Decomposition of Residential Building Energy Retrofit

Buildings are responsible for significant energy consumption and carbon emissions. Green buildings, which incorporate advanced building technologies, offer a solution to reducing energy use. However, high costs associated with green building development present a barrier to widespread adoption. Retrofit projects, involving remodeling, renovation, and redevelopment of existing buildings, offer a viable solution. While prior studies have examined the cost analysis of green and non-green buildings, there is a lack of evidence comparing new and retrofit projects. This study aims to address this gap by providing empirical evidence for the cost decomposition and benefits of new and retrofit projects. Data on energy use, building technology, and costs from 235 certified green homes in the United States were collected, and cost benefits were evaluated. Results show that retrofit projects cost, on average, $1270.5/m2 ($118.0/ft2), which is 30% less than new projects. Land acquisition and development account for 35% of retrofit costs, six times greater than new projects. Excluding land costs, retrofit projects cost, on average, $733.88/m2 ($68.2/ft2), 49% less than new projects. Retrofit projects use similar building technologies as new projects and produce larger energy savings. The cost-benefit values generated by retrofit projects are 86% greater than new projects when considering land costs and 142% greater without considering land costs. These findings contribute to cost management for complex building projects and energy policy for sustainable development. Retrofitting offers great potential to promote the green building movement and suggests effective subsidy programs as a public policy implication.

Analysis and Study of credits for IGBC Green New Building

The green building movement in India has gained significant momentum with over 8,669 registered projects under the Indian Green Building Council. The LEED standards influence the design and construction of environmentally sustainable structures with a focus on resource conservation, waste reduction, and creating healthy spaces. The IGBC criteria encompasses aspects such as sustainable architecture and design, site selection, energy and water conservation, building materials, indoor environmental quality, and innovation. Energy efficiency and water conservation are emphasized through eco-friendly refrigerants, renewable energy sources, and water-wise practices. The use of certified green building materials, products, and equipment helps reduce environmental impact. Indoor environmental quality is maintained through adequate ventilation, low-emitting materials, and indoor air quality testing. Building owners and contractors can employ various strategies to improve the well-being of occupants. Key Words: Green building, Sustainable, Conservation, Environment, Eco-friendly, Renewable