Strategies for sustainable housing development-the challenges from renewable energy

One-fifth of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions come from households. There are 7 million households in Australia and each is producing about 15 tonnes of greenhouse gas every year. Energy use, car use and waste are the largest sources of household emissions. Improving the energy efficiency of homes is one of the most effective ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and has been the main focus of the government's energy policy. In addition to the introduction of BASIX as mandatory to all new homes in NSW in 2004, the federal and state governments have introduced incentive schemes to subsidize Australian homes to install solar panels and other renewable energy technologies as a way to improve energy performance of existing homes since 2006. This paper examines the opportunities and challenges of renewable energy in improving energy efficiency of existing dwellings. The paper also presents the results of an economic analysis of renewable energy source in a dwelling in NSW. Finally a strategic direction of providing affordable and environmentally sustainable practices in upgrading existing homes to improve energy efficiency is also developed and discussed. Copyright © 2013 IAHS

Sustainable construction-The role of environmental assessment tools

Construction has been accused of causing environmental problems ranging from excessive consumption of global resources both in terms of construction and building operation to the pollution of the surrounding environment, and research on green building design and using building materials to minimise environmental impact is already underway. However, relying on the design of a project to achieve the goal of sustainable development, or to minimise impacts through appropriate management on site, is not sufficient to handle the current problem. The aim for sustainability assessment goes even further than at the design stage of a project to consider its importance at an early stage, before any detailed design or even before a commitment is made to go ahead with a development. However, little or no concern has been given to the importance of selecting more environmentally friendly designs during the project appraisal stage; the stage when environmental matters are best incorporated. The main objectives of this paper are to examine the development, role and limitations of current environmental building assessment methods in ascertaining building sustainability used in different countries which leads to discuss the concept of developing a. sustainability model for project appraisal based on a multi-dimensional approach, that will allow alternatives to be ranked is discussed in detail in the paper. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Cost effective and sustainable? Photovoltaic (PV) rebate program in Australia

The Australian Government has recently announced a Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme to provide up front payments of $8,000 for around 25,250 households of income less than$100,000 per year installing a 150 watt solar panel system starting on 01 July 2009 using $202 million taxpayers' money. The scheme has not included households' with incomes greater than$100,000, nor developers who produce new houses. Whether the policies are effective and sustainable is arguable. This paper examines policies designed to encourage households to install solar panel system in Australia and demonstrates reasons for supporting developers to build green houses using Net Present Value (NPV) analysis in a case study. The findings suggest that the government should support installation of solar systems by both households and the developers. ©2009 IEEE

A basix tool for environmental assessment of residential buildings - An australian approach

The rapidly growing population in New South Wales (NSW) is the driving force behind the growth in new housing. The environmental impact in terms of land use, energy and resource consumption will significantly impede the supply of new housing. In NSW, sustainable housing has become an important focus of the government's housing policy. In response to the need for sustainable housing, the government launched a sustainability assessment tool called BASIX in July 2004 to assess and establish indoor thermal comfort, water and energy efficiency targets, and sustainability levels. The introduction of BASIX has had a profound impact on the construction industry. In order to ascertain the extent of impact, an online survey was conducted among construction professionals in NSW in March 2006. The tool has played a significant role in providing a general guideline for the sustainability performance of proposed developments. It serves as a means to make people think about water and energy saving initiatives, and to encourage good design practice without excessive additions to the cost of a new building. However, there is the opinion that there is more to be done such as control of waste and energy usage in the manufacturing of building materials

A framework for integrating sustainability estimation with concepts of rules of building measurement

BIM promises improvement in project delivery efficiencies such as reduction in costs and errors and timely completion. Benefits are also expected in sustainable construction aspect with research efforts being extended to sustainable design and assessment. These efforts are still been explored for the purposes of unifying quantification methodologies, the standardisation of system boundaries, terms of references and sustainability measures. Embodied energy and CO2 are two common measures that have been widely used in the construction sector. Although a number calculation system exists, they are not useful to the iterations that occur at the early stages of the project life cycle. At the procurement stage, professionals often rely on schedules and bill of quantities with no reference to sustainability credentials. It is therefore important to integrate sustainability measure with concepts in standard measurement methods. As such, we propose a framework to integrate sustainability credential with the concepts in rule of building measurement. We conclude that this framework can be applicable to any rule of building measurement and it is implementable in a computer programmable environment

Knowledge-based Lean Six Sigma Maintenance System for Sustainable Buildings

YesPurpose– This paper develops a Knowledge-based (KB) System for Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Maintenance in environmentally Sustainable Buildings (Lean6-SBM). Design/methodology/approach– The Lean6-SBM conceptual framework has been developed using the rule base approach of KB system and joint integration with Gauge Absence Prerequisites (GAP) technique. A comprehensive literature review is given for the main pillars of the framework with a typical output of GAP analysis. Findings– Implementation of LSS in the sustainable building maintenance context requires a pre-assessment of the organisation’s capabilities. A conceptual framework with a design structure is proposed to tackle this issue with the provision of an enhancing strategic and operational decision making hierarchy. Research limitations/implications– Future research work might consider validating this framework in other type of industries. Practical implications– Maintenance activities in environmentally sustainable buildings must take prodigious standards into consideration and, therefore, a robust quality assurance measure has to be integrated. Originality/value– The significance of this research is to present a novel use of hybrid KB/GAP methodologies to develop a Lean6-SBM system. The originality and novelty of this approach will assist in identifying quality perspectives while implementing different maintenance strategies in the sustainable building context.Ministry of Defence Engineering Services (Sultanate of Oman

A framework to move forward on the path to eco-innovation in the construction industry: implications to improve firms´ sustainable orientation

This paper examines key aspects in the innovative behavior of the construction firms that determine their environmental orientation while innovating. Structural equation modeling was used and data of 222 firms retrieved from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for 2010 to analyse the drivers of environmental orientation of the construction firms during the innovation process. The results show that the environmental orientation is positively affected by the product and process orientation of construction firms during the innovation process. Furthermore, the positive relation between the importance of market information sources and environmental orientation, mediated by process and product orientation, is discussed. Finally, a model that explains these relations is proposed and validated. 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Carbon dioxide reduction in the building life cycle: a critical review

The construction industry is known to be a major contributor to environmental pressures due to its high energy consumption and carbon dioxide generation. The growing amount of carbon dioxide emissions over buildings’ life cycles has prompted academics and professionals to initiate various studies relating to this problem. Researchers have been exploring carbon dioxide reduction methods for each phase of the building life cycle – from planning and design, materials production, materials distribution and construction process, maintenance and renovation, deconstruction and disposal, to the material reuse and recycle phase. This paper aims to present the state of the art in carbon dioxide reduction studies relating to the construction industry. Studies of carbon dioxide reduction throughout the building life cycle are reviewed and discussed, including those relating to green building design, innovative low carbon dioxide materials, green construction methods, energy efficiency schemes, life cycle energy analysis, construction waste management, reuse and recycling of materials and the cradle-to-cradle concept. The review provides building practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of carbon dioxide reduction potential and approaches worldwide. Opportunities for carbon dioxide reduction can thereby be maximised over the building life cycle by creating environmentally benign designs and using low carbon dioxide materials