Office building adaptation and the growing significance of environmental attributes

© Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this study was to investigated the importance of environmental attributes for office building adaptation and whether the importance of environmental attributes for adaptation has changed over time from 1998-2008 to 2009-2011. With 1-2 per cent added to the total stock of buildings each year and the need to take action to mitigate the impacts of predicted climate change (IPCC, 2013), it is necessary to focus efforts on adaptation of existing buildings.Design/methodology/approach – This research adopted a quantitative approach, using a database of office building attributes and applying principal component analysis to ascertain the respective importance of various building attributes in adaptation. Using two databases; the first dating from 1998 to 2008 and comprising 5,290 adaptation events and the second covering the period 2009 to 2011 and comprising 1,272 adaptation events, a comparison of results was undertaken.Findings – The findings indicate the importance of some environmental attributes in building adaptation has changed and that legislation and changes market perceptions towards to promote built environment sustainability may be having a positive impact. The research demonstrates that different property attributes vary in importance over time and used existing buildings in an international city to confirm application to urban settlements elsewhere where existing buildings can be adapted to reduce the effect of climate change.Research limitations/implications – The databases are limited to Melbourne, Australia and to these specific points in time. It is possible that other cities are seeing changes in adaptation practices to accommodate increased awareness and the growing importance attributed to environmental issues; however, additional studies would be required to ascertain whether the level of importance was stronger or weaker than that found in Melbourne.Practical implications – The impacts of the mandatory The National Australian Built Environment Rating System energy rating tool and the Green Star voluntary tool provide actionable data for property stakeholders and the academic community. Policy-makers can see that building owners are integrating environmental attributes into their stock and that the market is shifting towards increased sustainability. This study uses real world data to feed the scholarship process, with real economic and commercial impacts. New buildings account for about 1-2 per cent of the total building stock annually and existing buildings must be adapted, and thus the questions of the success of voluntary or mandatory measures are essential to future environmental decision-making.Originality/value – This research reports on data covering all office building adaptation conducted from 1998 to 2011 in the Melbourne CBD. As such, it is a comprehensive analysis of all works undertaken and how the significance of different physical, social, economic and environmental attributes is changing over time

Exploring the potential for urban food production on Sydney’s rooftops

There are environmental, economic and social benefits of retrofitting rooftops on city buildings for food production. Environmental benefits include lower carbon food miles, potential reductions in building related operational carbon emissions, reductions in the urban heat island, increases in bio-diversity and reductions in storm-water run-off. Economically, the benefits are reduced roof maintenance costs, lower running costs and access to fresh food. Thirdly the social or community gains are the creation of spaces where people can engage in growing food. Psychological and therapeutic gains accrue when people engage with natural environments However there are barriers which include perceptions of greater risk of building leaks, high costs of installation and maintenance, and access and security issues. Although the technology to design and install food production on rooftops exists, the uptake and the demand have not been high to date. Overall, the gains are not deemed sufficient and in Sydney Australia, the existing numbers of food producing rooftops are testimony to this observation. This research reports on three rooftops set up in 2013 in Sydney which are producing food. The social, economic and environmental aspects and physical aspects of the installation are described in this paper

Exploring the value of BIM for corporate real estate

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: Building information modelling (BIM) offers rich opportunities for property professionals to use information throughout the property life cycle. However, the benefits of BIM for property professionals are largely untapped. BIM was developed by the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector to assist in managing design and construction data. As these technologies mature and evolve, so does the opportunity for other professional groups to use data within, or linked to, BIM models. This paper aims to explore the potential for corporate real estate managers (CREM) and investment surveyors to use data contained in BIM models and building management systems, which could help these professionals with strategic planning, portfolio rationalisation and acquisitions. Design/methodology/approach: This is a scoping study to explore the potential to expand the scope of BIM to other professional activities. As such, the research adopted a Delphi approach with a series of workshops with experienced stakeholders in Australia and England. Qualitative research is inductive and hypothesis-generating. That is, as the researcher assimilates knowledge and information contained in the literature, ideas and questions are formed, which are put to research participants, and, from this process, conclusions are drawn. Findings: It is technologically feasible for some property professionals, such as CREM, to use some data contained within BIM, and linked building management systems. The types of data used by property professionals were identified and ranked in importance. Needs are varied, both in the range of data and the points in the property life cycle when they are required. The benefits identified include potentially accessing and using more reliable and accurate data in professional tasks; however, challenges exist around the fidelity of the data and assurances that it is current. Research limitations/implications: The key limitations of the research were that the views expressed are those of a select group of experienced practitioners and may not represent the consensus view of the professions and industry as a whole. The limitations and criticisms of focus group data collection are that individuals holding strong views may dominate the sessions. Practical implications: The findings show that expanding access to BIM could enable some property professionals, including CREM, to utilise relevant data that could improve the quality and accuracy of their professional services. A simple initial system could be trialled to ascertain the value of the data. Over time, the availability of data could be extended to allow more professionals access. Furthermore, there is potential to link BIM to other digitised property data in the future. Originality/value: To date, no one has considered the practicality or potential utility of expanding the access to data contained in 3D BIM models to property professionals, nor has anyone considered which data would be useful to them. The value of using BIM data is that, as more property stock is delivered and maintained via BIM-enabled processes, it will be possible for a wider range of professionals such as CREM and investment surveyors to offer more accurate advice and services to clients

Procurement, Sustainability & Adaptive Reuse Projects in Sydney

With large scale projects like Baragaroo about to flood the market with a large supply of office space, the city of Sydney is poised to undergo a change whereby existing office stock will be made available for adaptive reuse projects. Some 102,000m2 of office space is earmarked for residential conversion in Sydney due to the growing demand for centrally located residential properties and to help house a population that is expected to increase by 4% by 2031. Adaptive reuse projects have an inherent bent towards sustainability in that they make use of existing structures, which reduces economic, environmental, and societal impacts associated with demolishing existing structures to make way for new ones. This paper investigates how project owners can best select designers and builders for their adaptive reuse projects. Using case studies from completed adaptive reuse projects and literature review, this paper makes recommendations as to the best practices for the procurement of design and construction services for adaptive reuse projects in the Sydney market

Attenuating heat stress through green roof and green wall retrofit

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The process of rapid urbanisation is becoming problematic due to the reduction in, and lack of compensation of, previously vegetated areas. With a combination of green roofs and green walls, adopted on a large scale, it is possible to attenuate the urban heat island effect and internal temperatures in buildings. Tall buildings are becoming a common housing type in many cities, and considering the role of external walls in heat gain, it is expected that the combination of green roofs and green walls have great potential to improve thermal performance. As only 1-2% is added to the total stock of buildings annually, the focus should be on the retrofit of existing buildings to deliver maximum thermal benefits. In the present work lightweight, modular vegetated systems were adopted for roofs and walls. Instead of considering only the temperature influence in heat stress, this research adopted the use of heat index that encompasses the combined effect of temperature and relative humidity. For this purpose, the thermal benefits of green roof and green wall retrofit is evaluated in two small scale experiments, where identical prototypes (vegetated and non-vegetated) are compared using block work and timber framed drywall structures for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Sydney, Australia, respectively. The results show a different understanding in heat stress evaluation regarding heat index rather than temperature itself, especially under high levels of relative humidity. This evidence demonstrates green roof and green wall retrofit offer a proven role in heat stress attenuation in residential buildings

Conceptualising the benefits of green roof technology for commercial real estate owners and occupiers

The benefits of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) are increasingly being recognised in terms of reduced flood risk, reduced cost of drainage, improved water quality, lower energy use and other, less tangible aspects, such as aesthetics and amenity. Multiple tools and evaluation techniques exist to estimate the costs and benefits of installations on a total level. These evaluations vary in accuracy and precision and many benefits are difficult to monetise. There are also distributional aspects of costs and benefits that will need to be considered in the ongoing dialogue to encourage appropriate installation of WSUD that have, thus far, rarely been explored in research. In particular, the perspective of the commercial real estate owner, investor or occupier has been neglected in favour of governmental and societal views. This can be understood within the wider context of urban design such as retention or infiltration installations in public spaces; in Central Business Districts (CBDs), however, the installation of green roof technology is seen as one of the main contributors to WSUD and is largely in the hands of private companies. A conceptual model of the distribution of benefits from installing a green roof on a commercial building is presented that can inform the understanding of incentives and behaviours in the corporate real estate market. The results show that benefits accrue directly and indirectly to both owners and occupiers of commercial buildings with green roofs. However, many of the direct benefits are enjoyed by a much wider stakeholder group and these benefits will only be partly recognised as due to the investment in green roofs. Owners and occupiers of commercial buildings may also want to evaluate the indirect benefit accruing via their image of corporate social responsibility and, in addition the possibility of value uplift due to neighbourhood improvement

The Future Of The Valuation Profession

The aim of this research was to explore the future of the property profession generally and the role of the Valuer in particular, and how the profession could maintain and increase relevance and currency, and set an agenda to support employers in attracting and retaining a more diverse talent pool to run the businesses of the future. This report presents the findings of the research project that investigates extant literature on the issues and challenges faced by the current valuation profession

Expanding The Living Architecture In Australia

This final report sets out the findings of the business case analysis of whether a voluntary or mandatory approach to green roofs and walls would work best in Australia It uses Sydney and Melbourne as examples to model data