Emergy based procurement framework to improve sustainability performance in construction.

In the recent past, sustainable development has been a topic of focus as it affects and is affected by the construction industry. Procurement is identified as a main driver in making construction practices more sustainable. However according to the published literature, traditional procurement practices have widely been criticized for their disregard of the environment and society. Currently there is a lack of awareness and lack of resources available for sustainable procurement in the construction industry, especially in Canada. This study conducts an assessment of sustainable procurement in the Canadian construction industry. In addition, much needed resources for sustainable procurement are expected to be developed through this study. Based on the industry survey involving perspectives of construction managers and project owners across Canada, it was concluded that sustainable procurement is rarely being used in the Canadian construction industry. The empirical study indicated that a limited number of sustainability initiatives are used in construction procurement. Furthermore respondents pointed to lack of funding as the main challenge for sustainable procurement. An in-depth review was conducted on sustainable procurement and current guides available for sustainable procurement. This information was used to develop a conceptual framework for sustainable procurement in construction projects. The framework is expected to support project owners and project managers in implementing sustainable procurement. A design and build proposal evaluation tool (Em-procure) was developed that considers the triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability. Em-procure tool uses emergy in converting TBL of sustainability into a bid evaluation. Interviews with industry experts confirmed that the Em-procure tool and procurement framework is suitable for industrial use.Applied Science, Faculty ofEngineering, School of (Okanagan)Graduat

Climate-driven asset management of public buildings : a multi-period maintenance planning framework

Reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and shrinking the environmental footprint are priority themes of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy of Canada. Public buildings account for the major portion of the corporate GHG footprint of public sector institutions. Improving the energy efficiency in buildings is vital in achieving the climate action targets pertaining to the public sector. According to Canadian Infrastructure Report Card, the physical condition of public buildings is expected to deteriorate in the future. In order to make the best use of the limited financial resources, hybrid building management plans which combine energy efficiency with physical condition improvement need to be developed. Building maintenance and retrofit plans are formulated for medium and long terms in the capital asset planning process. There is significant uncertainty associated with asset management decision making due to macro-economic variations such as technological advancements and new policies. At present, there are no pragmatic decision making methods that assist building asset management while incorporating future macro-economic changes. This research aims to bridge the aforementioned gap in literature by developing a multi-period asset management framework. The overall objective of the proposed research is aimed at developing a decision support framework for small and medium scale municipalities in Canada to attain climate action targets of municipal buildings, while prolonging the service life of the building components. This research will help to identify, evaluate, and prioritize maintenance or repair or replacement strategies, and to develop a comprehensive multi-period life cycle asset management plan based on allocated funding, targeted sustainability performance and future macro-economic changes. The findings of this research will extend the current body of knowledge by incorporating potential future technological advancement and climate action targets into the asset management decision making. The proposed asset management decision support framework consists of a retrofit investment planning method, a level of service (LOS) index, life cycle costing (LCC) technique, and a risk based maintenance planning approach. This research is expected to assist at all decision making levels in public sector institutions related to building asset management, and thereby in achieving corporate climate action targets.Applied Science, Faculty ofEngineering, School of (Okanagan)Graduat

Assessment of the level of service (LOS) of public recreational centre buildings : an uncertainty based approach

The federal sustainable development strategy (FSDS) for Canada advocated that public sector operations should aim at shrinking the environmental footprint while enhancing social benefits. In this quest, improving the sustainability performance of public buildings becomes a key constituent since buildings are responsible for the highest portion of the corporate GHG emission and energy usage of public entities. Moreover, public buildings are an important constituent of the socio-economic environment of a local region. Hence, there is a need for improving the sustainability performance of the future and existing public buildings. Currently, various innovative methods are used by federal, provincial and municipal entities to improve the sustainability performance of public buildings. However, asset management of building has been overlooked from the above studies. There is a lack of comprehensive methods to assess the level of service (LOS) of a building that is crucial for life cycle asset management. To address this problem, this paper proposes an approach to calculate the LOS of a recreational centre building operated by municipal government. Firstly, a LOS framework is formulated for recreational centre building by taking into consideration the key aspects. Secondly, a fuzzy synthetic evaluation method is used to assess the building performance. Thirdly, a case study was conducted to validate the proposed methodology. Results from this approach provide detailed information about the performance of the building assets. This approach facilitates in identifying areas that require immediate attention for improvement. This study provides a novel approach to life cycle asset management of public sector buildings.Other UBCUnreviewedFacultyOthe

Developing a Level of Service (LOS) Index for Operational Management of Public Buildings

Even though there is a large body of knowledge related to buildings, only a limited number of examples with a focus on asset management exist in published literature. More importantly, current literature lacks rating systems that support tactical and operational management of building infrastructure. This paper addresses the aforementioned knowledge gap and building industry requirement by proposing an index for operational management of a public building using building level of service (LOS). In the context of buildings, LOS is defined as an assessment of the operational performance provided to building users, society, and the environment. A fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE)-based method was used to assess the LOS of buildings. First, key performance categories and indicators were defined for operating building performance assessment. Indicators and benchmarks were customized for an aquatic centre building. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the application of the LOS index. Results from this approach provides an assessment of the operational performance of the aquatic centre building with respect to nine LOS performance categories. Overall building LOS was evaluated as good for the three pseudo scenarios considered. The proposed LOS index facilitates asset management of public buildings by providing information for operational, tactical, and strategic decision making.Applied Science, Faculty ofEngineering, School of (Okanagan)ReviewedFacultyGraduat

A review of base isolation systems with adaptive characteristics

Base isolation systems are widely used as an effective and practical solution to protect the structure and non-structural elements from seismic hazards. However, the excessive displacement under severe events may cause damage to the bearing as well as the structure. The growth in seismic isolation technology has led to the development of innovative base isolation systems which exhibit adaptive behavior. The behavior is denoted adaptive when the properties of the device change substantially depending on the loading level. Thus, the response can be tailored to the hazard level based on the softening and subsequent stiffening response and/or changing damping ratio as displacement increases. Recently, the concept of adaptive behavior has gained significant attention within the research community. This review presents the development and current knowledge base of adaptive devices in the absence of active control means. Some types of adaptive devices have the remarkable ability to dissipate the input energy at severe events, which leads to seismic mitigation of the floor acceleration and interstory drift of the superstructure at all hazard levels. Others can effectively reduce the responses at low to moderate earthquake ground motions while limiting the displacement at extreme events

Bi-directional loading of unbonded rectangular fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators

Elastomers are ideal for application as base isolators due to their ability to accommodate large recoverable strains. The formation of a composite with reinforcement, either steel or fibers, takes advantage of the near incompressibility of the elastomer to enhance the vertical and bending properties of the bearing. Although the conceptual design of a fiber-reinforced and steel-reinforced elastomeric bearing is similar, the lack of flexural rigidity of the fiber reinforcement results in unique performance characteristics, especially in the lateral direction. In this paper, an experimental program is conducted to evaluate the effect of lateral coupling in rectangular unbonded fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators (UFREIs). An apparatus with six degrees of freedom was used to apply a vertical load with simultaneous displacement in both primary lateral directions, whereas previous experimental programs are mostly based on a two degree of freedom analysis (vertical and lateral). The UFREI specimen was subjected to cyclic lateral displacements including tests with initial lateral offsets in the secondary lateral direction, in directions angled off the principal lateral axis, and in a circular motion. This experimental program is the first to investigate lateral coupling in rectangular UFREIs. A comparison was conducted based on the effective lateral stiffness, equivalent viscous damping, and energy dissipation characteristics. The considered rectangular UFREIs were found to exhibit lateral coupling but the degree of coupling and the impact on the structural performance under bidirectional loading require further investigation. Residual displacement was observed in the experimental program and is discussed in depth. Also, a theoretical equation is derived to calculate the lateral stiffness based on the angle of loading and lateral displacement. Theoretical values are compared with experimental results to verify the equation

Energy Performance Assessment Framework for Residential Buildings in Saudi Arabia

The residential sector consumes about 50% of the electricity produced from fossil fuels in Saudi Arabia. The residential energy demand is increasing. Moreover, a simple building energy performance assessment framework is not available for hot arid developing countries. This research proposes an energy performance assessment framework for residential buildings in hot and arid regions, which focuses on three performance criteria: operational energy, GHG emissions, and cost. The proposed framework has been applied to three types of residential buildings, i.e., detached, attached, and low-rise apartments, in five geographical regions of Saudi Arabia. Design Builder® was used to simulate the energy demand in buildings over a whole year. Four types of efficiency improvement interventions, including double-glazed windowpanes, triple-glazed windowpanes, LED lighting, and split air conditioners, were introduced in 12 combinations. Overall, 180 simulations were performed which are based on 12 intervention combinations, three building types, and five regions. Three performance criteria were evaluated for each simulation and then aggregated using a multi-criteria decision analysis method to identify the best intervention strategy for a given building type and a geographical region in Saudi Arabia. Each building type with interventions consumes higher energy in the western, central, and eastern regions and consumes a lesser amount of energy in the southern and northern regions. The proposed framework is helpful for long-term planning of the residential sector.Applied Science, Faculty ofNon UBCEngineering, School of (Okanagan)ReviewedFacult

Climate conscious regional planning for fast-growing communities

Climate-conscious development is a topic which has received widespread attention. One consequence of this is the prominence of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets set at various administrative levels (i.e. global, national, provincial and local governments). Despite the global interest, current models are incapable of integrating GHG emission reduction into the urban planning. This study presents lessons learned from a climate conscious growth study conducted for a fast-growing municipality in Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada, offering a model for local government target-setting generalizable across networks of communities, leading to significant cumulative GHG reductions at global scale. The study uses the results of engineering-based research to evaluate multiple planning scenarios developed to explore options for the subject municipality’s future urban form and the associated GHG emissions for the target year 2040. Overall municipal GHG emissions for each scenario were simulated in the study considering the residential and transportation emissions projections. The findings indicated that the lowest emissions scenario was the ultra-compact growth model without area structure plan (ASP) allocations. Accordingly, it was concluded that a densified growth strategy with a higher share of multi-unit residential development is the technically best path forward in municipal growth planning to meet climate action targets. Negative public perception of increased densification in urban areas remains an obstacle to the technically best solution. Moreover, per capita basis could be a more feasible approach for GHG emissions target setting. This study’s outcomes are expected to inform public sector institutions and decision makers in setting GHG targets and climate action planning.Management, Faculty of (Okanagan)Engineering, School of (Okanagan)Applied Science, Faculty ofReviewedFacultyGraduat