Review on green building rating tools worldwide : recommendations for Australia

Buildings could be led to adverse impacts on environment, such as generation of construction and demolition waste, and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Therefore, promotion on development of green buildings is in need. With the increasing awareness in sustainable development, various rating tools are promoted to evaluate the performance of green buildings. Nowadays, these tools function as a guideline for green building development. There are various green building rating tools developed worldwide, and various countries follow different rules, incentives and regulations. However, despite of promotion of green building rating tools, environmental issues from buildings are still significant in Australia. This research compared green building rating tools in Australia and other countries or regions around the world. This research found that rating tools in Australia lack of (1) mandatory criteria and (2) regulations and incentives. This paper recommended that governmental incentives should be promoted

[In Press] Risk assessment of retirement village public-private partnership homes

This study aims to identify and evaluate the potential risks associated with the development of retirement village through public-private partnership (PPP) approach. An international questionnaire survey was conducted with experienced practitioners. The findings show that five risk factors are very significant in the development of retirement village PPPs; these are “inexperience of private partner/developer,” “high operational and maintenance cost,” “inappropriate location of land for project,” “lack of highly skilled operational staff,” and “poor communication among stakeholders”. The results will inform developers and government agencies of the potential risk factors they should consider when engaging in future retirement village PPP arrangements

Effective strategies for developing retirement village public - private partnership

Purpose – The growth in ageing population globally has led to the increase in demand for retirement or aged care homes. Adopting public–private partnership (PPP) in the global retirement village market has become the new approach to address some of the emerging challenges. This paper aims to explore and analyse the critical success factors (CSFs) for the adoption of PPP in the global retirement village market. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted with experienced practitioners in the global PPP and retirement village markets. Mean score analysis, normalization range method, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and factor analysis were used for analysis. Findings – Results show that out of the 27 CSFs identified, the most significant ones in developing PPP retirement village projects are “the age-friendly design of villages”, “appropriate location of PPP retirement village”, “reliable and accessible health and physical facilities” and “effective social inclusion and integration in villages”. Further analysis shows that the 27 CSFs can be grouped into 7 major factor groupings, namely, “effective project monitoring”, “financial support”, “social integration”, “effective contractual arrangement between parties”, “government commitment and support”, “sustainable design of village” and “effective payment structure”. Originality/value – The outputs of this study will adequately inform retirement village developers, retirement village stakeholders and local government authorities of the best practices they should put in place to ensure the sustainable growth of the global retirement village market

Critical success factors for developing construction and demolition waste management in China

In recent years, rapid urbanisation has caused a large volume of construction and demolition waste in China. Although China has introduced some documents and policies to manage the waste, these documents are not operable or detailed enough to guide the practice further. It is of great importance to analyse critical success factors (CSFs) that could contribute to the successful development of construction and demolition waste management in China. A survey questionnaire was delivered to 150 participants, with 121 responses returned. Eighteen CSFs were identified and evaluated. The results showed that five factors-namely, 'polluter-pays principle', 'subsidies for recycling activities', 'waste minimisation at the planning stage', 'value-added tax deduction' and 'penalties on violations'-were considered the most important factors. Additionally, differences among the perspectives of three groups of related stakeholders (researchers, industry practitioners and government officers) on the criticality of the 18 CSFs were investigated. 'City plan for land use' was considered to have significant disagreement among researchers and government officers. However, the perceptions of industry practitioners were significantly different from those of researchers and government officers. The disagreements might be caused by the different interests, needs and objectives of related stakeholders. The findings of this study will likely prompt the policymakers in China to consider relevant CSFs to enhance the performance of construction and demolition waste management

[In Press] Effects of locations, structures and neighbourhoods to housing price : an empirical study in Shanghai, China

Since Chinese housing market has been reformed, the increasing housing price has been a focus of the whole society. Shanghai, as the economic and financial center in China, is one of the cities which have the highest housing price. However, the high housing price has gradually become an important economic problem, as it could create huge challenges to maintain a healthy real estate industry in China. A comprehensive understanding of the relationship between housing market and its impactors is in need to control the housing price. This paper will focus on Shanghai housing market and analyse relationship between 12 housing characteristics and housing price, using hedonic price model. It is found that the 12 housing characteristics impact Shanghai housing price differently. This paper could provide newest and largest amount of data as references to researchers and investors who concern about Shanghai housing market, and help government to formulate a proper housing price policy

An agent-based model approach for urban demolition waste quantification and a management framework for stakeholders

Along with the rapid growth in construction industry, quantity of construction and demolition (C&D) waste has increased significantly in recent decades. Demolition waste (DW) is identified as one significant stream of C&D waste and it is vital to obtain reliable information of the waste quantity. However, the data of C&D waste generation in China is still insufficient. In this study, an agent-based model is developed to estimate the total volume of DW and the amount of DW generated at each stage of waste disposal in Shenzhen, China. The findings present the greater capacity of deconstruction method in reduction of DW generation than conventional demolition method. In addition, the change from conventional demolition to deconstruction method could bring about a dramatic difference in the amount of construction material saving. However, the results present that change of attitude towards the demolition method is a slow process, which explains the unsatisfactory performance of demolition waste management (DWM) in Shenzhen. Relying on the attitude change of demolition companies is not enough to improve the performance of DWM. Related stakeholders should pay additional attention on DWM. Furthermore, an optimized management framework with involvement of related stakeholders is developed in this study

Challenges in current construction and demolition waste recycling : a China study

China produced a large amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, owing to the rapid development of construction industry. Although a set of policies and regulations are being drafted in China for promoting C&D waste recycling, execution of these policies in practice seems to be far from effective. Currently, approximately 75% of Chinese cities are still surrounded by large volumes of C&D waste. Therefore, identification of challenges in the development of C&D waste management, specially recycling, is essential. This paper employs site visits to 10 recycling plants in 10 Chinese cities (Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Changsha, Shenzhen, Nanjing, and Zhoukou) and interviews with 25 industry practitioners for examining the challenges. Eight challenges are identified: (1) unstable source of C&D waste for recycling, (2) absence of subsidies for recycling activities and high cost for land use, (3) insufficient attention paid to design for waste minimisation, (4) absence of regulations on on-site sorting, (5) unregulated landfill activities, (6) a lack of coordination among different government administration departments, (7) a lack of accurate estimation of waste quantity and distribution, and (8) a lack of an effective waste tracing system. Recommendations to address these challenges are presented. The results of this study are expected to aid policy makers in formulation of proper C&D waste management in China and provide a useful reference for researchers who are interested in C&D waste recycling industry

[In Press] Exploring the challenges in the development of retirement village homes through public-private partnerships

The trend in population ageing has promoted a rapid growth in retirement village industry. However, a significant capital investment is required for developing retirement villages. Applying the concept of public private partnership (PPP) in retirement village can satisfy the increased market demand and provide affordable living options. This paper investigates the challenges associated with the development of retirement village projects through PPP. A questionnaire survey was conducted with experienced practitioners across the globe. Results show that three out of the seventeen challenges emerged as the most significant challenges in the development of PPP retirement villages. These are: ‘limited understanding of developers on older people’s requirements’, ‘complex revenue and payment model’, and ‘misallocation and incomplete transfer of risks’. Furthermore, the seven teen challenges are regrouped into five major categories: ‘complicated contractual process and arrangement’, ‘poor land acquisition mechanism for projects’, ‘ineffective risk management’, ‘inadequate demand for aged care services’, and ‘lack of experience and knowledge in delivering retirement village PPPs’. The outputs of this study inform both government authorities and retirement village developers of the key hindrances to the successful growth of the global PPP retirement village industry

Factors affecting the price of recycled concrete : a critical review

A significant increase in construction activities has led to the production of massive construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Recycling is regarded as an ideal approach to deal with C&D waste. However, the adoption of market for recycled concrete from C&D waste is slow because quality and price are two major factors hindering its wide acceptability. It is observed that the price of recycled concrete is 0–10% higher than that of virgin concrete. Although there is willingness to purchase green products, clients and consultants emphasize the criticality of material costs before any consideration of environmental impacts. In the promotion of recycled concrete, it is of great importance to investigate factors affecting the price of recycled concrete to control its price to an acceptable level. This paper conducts a systematic literature review to generate a list of potential factors affecting recycled concrete pricing. Publications between 2000 and 2021 (inclusive) are investigated and 35 papers are identified. Fifteen factors are found to be influential: (1) selling cost of recycled aggregate; (2) proportion of recycled aggregate substitutions; (3) water-to-cement ratio; (4) amount of cement usage; (5) use of supplementary cementitious materials; (6) use of admixtures; (7) production and installation costs; (8) transportation costs of recycled aggregate; (9) transportation costs of concrete; (10) quality control measures; (11) indirect costs; (12) mandatory regulations; (13) voluntary guidelines; (14) population growth and (15) economic growth. Investigating factors affecting the price of recycled concrete could help to understand the stimulus and retards the use of recycled concrete for improving its financial viability

Critical review of the threats affecting the building of critical infrastructure resilience

In modern society, critical infrastructures (CIs) resilience has become a critical issue in crisis management and CIs protection. However, various threats/hazards could lead to disruption and failure of developing CIs resilience, which inevitably can lead to negative repercussions to humanity and national economy. In this regard, detailed understanding of the threats/hazards and their impacts are critical to improve a country’s preparedness for unexpected situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aims to conduct a critical analysis of the potential threats to governments’ efforts and capacity to build CI resilience. A three-stage systematic review process is adopted and a total of 35 papers are carefully selected. Results show that during the past two decades, researchers’ interest in exploring the threats/hazards in CIs resilience has increased. Further, most of the research publications emanate from the United States and United Kingdom. Lastly, a total of 31 threats/hazards are identified, with the most reported threats/hazards being: (1) natural disasters, (2) ageing and decay, (3) cyber threats, (4) terrorist activities, (5) contamination and (6) cascading failure/threat. The findings of this study provide a solid foundation for future research on developing CIs resilience. Additionally, the findings will inform policy makers and government authorities of the salient threats affecting the building of CIs resilience