Feasibility study of Songao's low carbon town planning, China

For the past two decades, low-carbon planning has been one of the main energy planning topics of research at both city and district scales. The attention has for long been on energy consumption reduction by alternative means (such as renewable energies), smart grid systems and measures of CO2 emission reductions and climate change mitigation and adaptation. For developing countries like China, achieving these in a short period is a challenging task. For low carbon planning, there are measures of sustainability, mainly environmental, that can be considered at three scales of ‘target plan’, ‘masterplan’ and ‘construction phase (or implementation)’; some of which are purely focused on energy sector and achieving low-carbon built environments. In here, some of these are studied as part of a feasibility study of a small-scale low carbon town planning case study in Zhejiang Province, East China. This paper is based on a research case study and is divided in to three sections, case study introduction, case study analysis, results and discussions. The conclusions are made based on outcomes of the conducted feasibility study for the case of Songao's low carbon town planning. More importantly, this study highlights the importance of feasibility study for low carbon planning projects and also argues in favour of pre-assessment case of research prior to planning and implementation phase

Environmental implications of privatised public space in gated residential neighbourhood: case study of China's small residential district

Gated neighbourhood is well-defined by enclosed walls and gates with clear physical boundaries. The most distinctive feature of gated neighbourhoods is that their public spaces are normally privatised. The construction and operation of the public space within a gated neighbourhood consumes energy and resources, and sequentially has impacts on the environment. This paper argues such environmental impacts from the construction and operation of the public space should be also “privatised”, i.e. it should be jointly owned by all property owners of a gated neighbourhood. Through examining a case study neighbourhood in China, this research indicates the environmental outcomes due to the privatisation of the public space cannot be ignored. De-privatising the public space from gated neighbourhoods through sound urban planning can help to improve environmental sustainability as well as social sustainability in tandem

The analysis of global warming patterns from 1970s to 2010s

While global warming is only one part of climate change effects, it poses the highest risk to our habitats and ecologies. It is alarming that global warming has heightened in multiple locations and is intensified since the early 1970s. Since then, there are certain global warming patterns that could guide us with an overview of what mitigation and adaptation strategies should be developed in the future decades. There are certain regions affected more than another, and there are certain patterns with adverse effects on regions, sub-regions, and even continents. This study provides an insightful analysis of recent global warming patterns, those that are affecting us the most with regional climate change of different types, upsurge in frequency and intensity of natural disasters, and drastic impacts on our ecosystems around the world. By analysing the global warming patterns of these last four decades, this research study sheds light on where these patterns are coming from, how they are developing, and what are their impacts. This study is conducted through grey literature and analysis of the recorded global warming data publicly available by the NASA-GISS data centre for global temperature. This brief—but comprehensive—analysis helps us to have a better understanding of what comes next for global warming impacts, and how we should ultimately react. The study contributes to the field by discovering three key points analysed based on available data and literature on recorded global temperature, including: differences between north and south hemispheres, specific patterns due to ocean surface temperature increase, and recent impacts on particular regions. The study concludes with the importance of global scale analysis to have a more realistic understanding of the global warming patterns and their impacts on all living habitats

Evaluating the Nexus between housing and energy sectors: the comparison of urban, Peri-urban and rural housing areas in Zhuhai, China

China has developed several housing policy reforms and has, in recent years, progressed further on developing policies to promote green strategies and energy-saving plans. The urban housing has much benefited from such reforms and plans, while rural housing has experienced minimal change in the past few decades. As a result, this study aims to identify and explore these differences, challenges, and implications that exist between three areas of urban, peri-urban, and rural in a particular case study in China. For this study, selected residential areas in the City of Zhuhai and its peri-urban and rural areas are selected as case studies. A questionnaire survey is conducted to analyze energy and housing conditions across the more prosperous urban, the dynamic and transitory peri-urban, and the less prosperous rural areas. The case studies are analyzed as comparative examples in a hot and humid sub-tropical area of Southern China. The study compares energy and housing conditions and argues potential possibilities and challenges for the future development of housing policy reforms that are the result of current housing development patterns and green strategy situation in China

Passive cooling energy systems SWOT analyses for energy-use reductions at three spatial levels

Passive cooling energy systems are significantly important in achieving efficient design and performative built environment. Encouragingly, there are many passive cooling energy systems at three spatial levels of macro, meso and micro. In this research study, these energy systems are identified and are assessed in a SWOT analysis evaluation. Apart from social and economic implications that are broad and effective for most of passive cooling energy systems, this study focuses on the energy systems’ implications across five indicators of practice, health, environment, energy and policy, which are significant for disciplines of sustainable energy systems and the built environment. This study aims to evaluate the interdependency of each indicator across three spatial levels and then argue for methods that can be considered for potential implementation of passive cooling energy systems. Furthermore, this study offers a holistic overview of all available passive cooling energy systems and argue based on interplay between five indicators across the three studied spatial levels. This study focuses on warmer climate zones (e.g. hot and dry; hot and humid), where passive cooling is expected to me more effective and obligatory. As a result, this study aims to help energy specialists, policy makers, planners and designers to evaluate how they can utilize passive cooling energy systems based on the key studied indicators. Finally, this paper gives an overview of gaps in policy and practice implementation of such systems in practice and their effectiveness at various spatial levels of the built environment

Passive cooling energy systems: holistic SWOT analyses for achieving urban sustainability

In urban sustainability, passive cooling energy systems are recognised as primary design factors that highlight efficient and performative buildings. In the literature, there is a gap in addressing these design systems in the form of strategies that holistically suggest sustainable energy systems, cleaner built environments, and urban sustainability. This study fills this gap by conducting comprehensive SWOT analysis of all major passive cooling energy systems. In doing so, the study highlights key implications from a multi-indicator perspective comprised of five primary indicators, ‘energy’, ‘policy’, ‘practice’, ‘health’, and ‘environment’. These indicators are significant for disciplines of sustainable energy systems and the built environment. Through an in-depth interdependency evaluation of these indicators, this study assesses the passive energy systems across three spatial levels of macro, meso, and micro. Finally, this paper provides a holistic overview of these sustainable energy systems from the policy and practice perspectives across the three spatial levels

Environmental impacts and embodied energy of construction methods and materials in low-income tropical housing

This paper evaluates the current conditions of Ugandan low-income tropical housing with a focus on construction methods and materials in order to identify the key areas for improvement. Literature review, site visits and photographic surveys are carried out to collect relevant information on prevailing construction methods/materials and on their environmental impacts in rural areas. Low quality, high waste, and energy intensive production methods, as well as excessive soil extraction and deforestation, are identified as the main environmental damage of the current construction methods and materials. The embodied energy is highlighted as the key area which should be addressed to reduce the CO$_2$ emissions of low-income tropical housing. The results indicate that the embodied energy of fired bricks in Uganda is up to 5.7 times more than general clay bricks. Concrete walling is identified as a much more environmentally friendly construction method compared to brick walling in East African countries. Improving fuel efficiency and moulding systems, increasing access to renewable energy sources, raising public awareness, educating local manufacturers and artisans, and gradual long-term introduction of innovative construction methods and materials which are adapted to local needs and conditions are some of the recommended actions to improve the current conditions.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from MDPI via http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su706786

Improving Thermal Comfort in Low-income Tropical Housing: The Case of Uganda

The average temperature in East African countries is estimated to rise by 3-4 °C during the next 70 years due the global warming. Uganda is one of the East African countries which will be greatly affected by the global warming. Due to their vulnerable living conditions, low-income people will be hit the worst by the consequences of climate changes. Around 38% of Uganda’s population live below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day and more than 60% of the country’s urban population live in slums. On the other hand, due to various social and practical reasons, sustainable locally available construction methods and materials, such as adobe and thatched roofs are being gradually replaced with environmentally harmful materials such as concrete and iron sheet roofs. This situation in addition to imminent thermal discomfort caused by the global warming as well as defective design and inappropriate construction methods may considerably affect the health and wellbeing of low-income people the majority of whom live in substandard overcrowded homes. This paper intends to evaluate the effects of different construction methods and materials on the risk of thermal discomfort in low-income houses in Uganda. Dynamic thermal simulations are conducted in EnergyPlus and adaptive model Category II, defined in BS EN 15251, is used for the thermal comfort evaluations. The results reveal that roof construction methods/materials are the key factor in reducing or increasing the risk of thermal discomfort in naturally ventilated buildings in tropical climates. Compared to iron sheet roof, thatched roof provided up to 15 times better conditions by reducing the number of hours during which internal operative temperature exceeded the “limiting maximum acceptable temperature”. Hollow concrete block walls with iron sheet roof was found to be the worst construction method which dramatically failed all three thermal comfort criteria defined by CIBSE TM52

China's New-Type Urbanisation Plan (NUP) and the foreseeing challenges for decarbonization of cities: a review

The most recent urbanisation plan in China, the New-type Urbanisation Plan (NUP) launched in March 2014, is a national plan proposed for development of a scientific and reasonable urban development model by 2020. NUP aims to connect four major plans of ecological progress, urbanisation quality, expanding domestic demand and rural-urban coordination. After almost two years, several contradictions are already in place. However, there are key challenges for decarbonization of cities in this process. This review paper explores four major challenges and suggests steps forward during and after NUP's lifespan. This study also elaborates on the processes and contradictions for decarbonization of Chinese cities

Sustainable living and urban density: the choices are wide open

Rapid urbanization, especially in developing countries, means that the worldwide tradition of living in low-rise housing is giving way to life in urban apartments. This implies huge environmental and sociocultural changes. For sustainability, dense cities offer some advantages, including efficient land use and transport systems. But there are also many possible negatives of such urbanization, and particularly for lower income groups. A widespread model is high-rise urban “superblocks”. The reasoning is often said to be the need to house many people in very compact cities. This argument is not strictly true. Equally high population densities can be achieved in several ways, including quite low-rise, with equal energy efficiency as well as environmental and social qualities. We explore these choices and assess options for sustainable living in future urban residential areas. Life cycle analysis is often applied to individual buildings but less often to urban development seen as a whole. We suggest some important “new” considerations need to be taken into account in deciding which urban forms to choose. In particular, high-rise as compared to low-dense options have implications as regards embodied energy, recurrent costs, flexibility and post use, which have to date been little discussed in the research literature