Aural related implications of the open plan office

Theme: Fifty years later: Revisiting the role of architectural science in design and practiceThe open plan office is now a standard design approach for new and retrofitted commercial buildings. The open work environment is considered to improve communication and collaboration between colleagues, facilitating more efficient and faster responsiveness and decision making. The removal of walls in open plan offices allows for an increase in the density of occupants and is also advantageous in aiding effective air distribution. However, research has shown that the benefits of improved access to colleagues can be overshadowed by the impact of increased noise, visual related disturbances and a loss of privacy. This paper reports on a post occupancy evaluation of a number of commercial office buildings (Green Star rated and non-rated buildings) in Adelaide, South Australia, focusing on acoustic privacy in the buildings as perceived by the occupants. The evaluation found that occupants in the Green Star rated buildings had a decreased satisfaction when compared to the occupants in the non-rated buildings particularly in relation to their perceptions of noise overall, noise generated from within and outside of the building, the frequency of unwanted interruptions and also privacy. Occupants expressed concern that these factors were affecting their overall comfort, productivity and health. The similarities and differences between the buildings and their occupants will be discussed. Through identifying and learning from the aspects impacting on aural comfort, we can change our approach to the design of work places and improve the built environment.Vanessa Menadue and Veronica Soebart

Development of an office building sustainability assessment framework for Malaysia

This paper presents a study aimed at developing a building performance assessment framework relevant to emerging/developing countries that allows evaluations on whether, and to what extent, sustainability is addressed in office building developments. Instead of simply adopting an existing building performance assessment framework, a framework developed through original work involving various relevant stakeholders in Malaysian building industry is presented. The process adopted a mixed-methods approach, particularly using exploratory sequential design i.e. a qualitative followed by a quantitative phase. The goal of the qualitative phase was to discover essential performance criteria through 1) literature review; 2) in-depth interviews; and 3) focus groups discussion. The performance criteria identified from the qualitative phase were brought into the quantitative phase via a questionnaire survey for the purpose of assigning their weighting levels. The tentative assessment framework was then presented to local experts for validation, and finally the Validated Comprehensive Malaysian Office Assessment (MyOBSA) framework is proposed. The framework covers all aspects of sustainability, thus allowing sustainability to be assessed in all phases of building developments, from pre-design to operational stages. This study demonstrates that any emerging/developing country shall be able to develop its own building sustainability assessment framework by taking into account relevant priorities of that country

RETHINKING THE ADOPTION OF GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This paper critically reviews the adoption of green building rating systems in developing countries such as Indonesia. Most new buildings in Indonesian cities are replacing the already socially-vibrant urban kampungs; however, green building rating systems do not assess environmental, social and economic impacts upon the existing communities. The paper compares the motivation and approaches of the green building movement and green rating tools with the philosophies and implementation of the urban kampung improvement programme (KIP), implemented for years to improve the condition of Indonesia’s urban kampungs. Ideas and the means for developing more sociallyresponsible green developments are presented and a closer integration of KIP with ‘green’ urban development is recommended

Comparative review of existing building performance assessment systems: appropriateness for the context of emerging/developing countries

Emerging/developing countries have begun to realize that the implementation of building performance assessment systems (BPASs) have the potential to contribute towards achieving a sustainable built environment. Consequently, some BPASs from developed countries have been adopted or customized to be implemented in emerging/developing countries, including Malaysia. The objectives of this paper are to: 1) analyse the effectiveness of existing BPASs in assessing building sustainability in emerging/developing countries; and 2) investigate their appropriateness in addressing the Malaysian context. The paper comparatively reviews and critiques nine BPASs in terms of their characteristics and limitations by analysing the content of the systems’ documentation as well as reviewing other documents related to the systems. Overall, the study finds that most existing BPASs are inadequate in addressing the complex concept of sustainability as well as many of the non-environmental priorities of emerging/developing countries, particularly Malaysia. In fact, priority issues of BPASs from emerging/developing nations reviewed in this paper still reflect those of developed countries. This paper concludes by recommending the specific requirements for developing the Malaysian office building sustainability assessment framework. These findings provide an appropriate basis for other emerging/developing countries to establish a country-specific building sustainability assessment framework that takes relevant priorities into account

Design and validation of a low cost indoor environment quality data logger

Theme: Fifty years later: Revisiting the role of architectural science in design and practiceThe appraisal of indoor environment quality in residential dwellings presents a range of technical challenges. Indoor environment quality (IEQ) is often described as having thermal, visual, aural and olfactory dimensions, each of which is assessed subjectively by the resident. While it is possible to objectively assess physical parameters relating to each aspect of IEQ, either directly or indirectly, resident satisfaction with the environment is determined subjectively so must be inferred. In the field study of thermal comfort (FSTC) approach, objective physical measurements are collected simultaneously with resident preference and sensation information, usually via a diary or written survey. This research paper explores a new approach to residential IEQ appraisal which extends the FSTC approach to the visual, aural and olfactory dimensions using a low cost data collection system based upon the Arduino microcontroller platform. The paper describes the design developed, presents early validation results and draws preliminary conclusions.Andrew Carre, Terence Williamson and Veronica Soebart

Thermal experiences of older people during hot conditions in Adelaide

Theme: Fifty years later: Revisiting the role of architectural science in design and practiceThis study examined the thermal experiences of older people during extreme heat and summer more broadly. A longitudinal field study of thermal comfort and thermal acceptability of conditions during summer 2015-16 was conducted as part of a larger project into the overall thermal comfort of older people in Adelaide, South Australia. The experiences and preferences of the participants were arranged into 3 categories: acceptable thermal sensation votes, warm and hot thermal sensation votes and votes recorded on extreme heat days when the maximum outdoor temperature was 35º Celsius or above during the study period. In each category, participants reported sensations of ‘warm’ and ‘hot’ within the acceptable range of operative temperature and humidity suggested by ASHRAE Standard 55. Participants also expressed a desire to feel cooler within this acceptable range, and described conditions within this range as ‘thermally unacceptable’. These results show that older people may be experiencing thermal conditions differently to younger people. Specifically, it appears that these articipants have a desire for cooler temperatures than predicted by ASHRAE Standard 55. The study poses a series of challenges for future research to ensure comfortable and healthy homes for ageing Australians.Rachel Bills, Veronica Soebarto and Terence Williamso

Estimated Savings from Turning Off Unnecessary Lights at the Langford Architecture Center During the 1996 Christmas Holidays

During the 1996 Christmas holidays the College of Architecture initiated a trial program to turn off unnecessary lights during unoccupied periods. This effort targeted the unnecessary lights in all studios, classrooms, labs and offices. Had those lights been left on, the building would have consumed 100 kW more electricity every hour. The total electricity savings was about 31,200 kWh over 13 days, which is equivalent to a total cost saving of $936.00. If the College continues to turn off unnecessary lights during unoccupied periods, the estimated annual cost savings would be$13,711, which is 40% of the target savings estimated in the test we performed earlier in 1996. Labor costs to accomplish a manual shutdown are approximately $96.00 per week. If this is deducted from the annual cost savings, the lighting turn-off program still saves about$8,632 per year

Investigation of thermal comfort and airflow in a naturally ventilated lightweight house in a bush fire prone area

Building performance simulation has been utilised for the investigation of thermal comfort and airflow within a naturally ventilated, self-sufficient house in a bushfire prone area. Lightweight construction with Phase Change Materials (PCM) was proposed as an appropriate solution to respond to the brief. The simulations modelled the effects with and without PCM, to demonstrate the reduction in temperature swings throughout design days. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to graphically model the air velocity and temperature gradients and produced results to highlight design parameters that can assist airflow. Limitations of the software are discussed particularly in relation to assisted ventilation from ceiling fans, and miscellaneous heat gains of a fire stove, which could not be simulated effectively.Yanni Papadopoulos, Veronica Soebart

The death of modern hospitals: Towards a comprehensive approach for restorative healthcare environmental design

This study criticises the design strategies of today’s so-called sustainable hospitals which mainly focus on reducing the hospitals’ adverse impact on the environment and energy consumption rates. Based on a review of the historical literature, the study offers an alternative approach to treating a true sustainable hospital, a restorative environment that connects human health with nature by combining salutogenic and biophilic design principles with restorative environmental design strategies. The positive impacts of biophilia, the inherent human affinity to affiliate with nature, on both humans and nature have been demonstrated through rigorous and empirical studies over the past 40 years. In 2008, Restorative Environmental Design (RED) was introduced by Stephen Kellert to integrate biophilia and environmental design principles to have a more beneficial impact on both building users and the surrounding environment. Still, implementing this approach in design practice is a challenging mission. Green building and evidence-based design principles are the main guidelines used by architects and planners to design hospitals, but little attention is given to improving the relationship between building users and nature. Further research is therefore required to facilitate implementing the RED approach in healthcare design. RED is based on Stephen Kellert’s biophilic design attributes which need to be tailored to fit the complex needs of healthcare architecture and to consider restorative environment design principles. This study addresses common ground between biophilic design and salutogenic design by taking a comparative approach, exploring two case studies of recently constructed hospitals in Australia and Singapore to generate a comprehensive design framework. The targeted Restorative Healthcare Environmental Design (RHED) should be tested as a suggested model in introducing biophilic design to the healthcare design and planning community in a realistic and practical way. However, a more comprehensive assessment of the proposed framework is needed.Mohamed S. Abdelaal, Veronica Soebart

History matters: the origins of biophilic design of innovative learning spaces in traditional architecture

Recent empirical studies have shown a positive correlation between nature, the built environment and creativity in the human brain. During the medieval Islamic Golden Era, higher education buildings of non-medical ‘madrasa’ and medical ‘bimaristan’ institutions applied specific techniques and strategies so that human intellectual curiosity could flourish through direct and indirect contact with nature. In contrast, the architecture of modern universities has lessened students’ multi sensory focus and engagement with nature. Several studies have addressed these institutions’ failure to foster the innovation-generation process. This systematic review summarises and synthesises previous studies, elaborating the characteristics of those spaces that can host Innovation-Generation Processes (IGPs) based on psychological and neurological investigation. The study analyses research outcomes that support the stimulative impact of nature on people’s cognitive capacities. This demonstrates that the biophilic design approach utilises natural conditions and elements within the built environment to enhance the physical, social, intellectual and psychological status of innovators. The findings of this study demonstrate a strong interrelationship between IGPs and the built environment in traditional higher education institutions based on the premise of biophilic design. Hence, we can adopt some lessons from these ‘timeless’ buildings to support the evolution of innovative university campuses today.Mohamed S. Abdelaal, Veronica Soebart