Identifying and evaluating green building attributes by environment,social, and economic pillars of sustainability

ABSTRACT

Green building (GB) rating systems are developed to measure the level of extent or sustainability of buildings. It is very important to focus on the attributes that require more cost and are contributing more to decreasing the negative impact of construction on the environment or nature. This analysis presents an idea-based conceptual model for prioritising the GB attributes by considering the environmental, social, and economic pillars of sustainable construction or monetary mainstays of manageable development. To analyse the environmentally and socially essential attributes, an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and an entropy method were used. For the economic analysis, a data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied. If the decision makers give more importance to the environmental and social pillars of sustainability then they can consider the attributes such as occupants’ health, safety and comfort, climatic conditions, the cost of investment, operation and maintenance cost, and indoor air quality. If the construction stakeholder wishes to achieve more green points with limited funds then the important attributes are: operation and maintenance cost, material recycle, low-impact construction site techniques, locally available materials, and soil pollution. The proposed approach can advance GB construction practices that are not liable to result from conventional practices.     

Survival analysis on bridges for modeling bridge replacement and evaluating bridge performance

A sustainable civil infrastructure is a prerequisite for achieving sustainability in infrastructure development. However, the finite lifetime of infrastructure indicates a latent mass-maintenance problem in some countries which had experienced mass-construction of infrastructure during high economic growth. To achieve optimal infrastructure management for overcoming this mass-maintenance problem, life prediction of infrastructure is indispensable. Hence, in this research, bridge life assessment from actual bridge survival data from the United States and Japan was carried out by using the method of survival analysis, a method commonly applied in the field of epidemiology for the analysis of lifetime. The results estimated average bridge life at 93.5 years and a bridge replacement projection model was successfully derived. The bridge replacement projection model can be applied as an approximation for other countries where the same design specifications are followed. By carrying out stratifications of bridge cohorts in the United States, evaluations of bridge performance with respect to structure length; traffic volume and truck traffic volume were also executed.     

A sustainability assessment framework for bridges – a case study: Victoria and Champlain Bridges,Montreal

This paper deals with the development of a framework for assessment of sustainability of bridges, including related technical, economic, environmental and social issues. Sustainable infrastructure assets require diligent conception and design of facilities (with diligent choice of materials and construction techniques), high quality construction, and operations, involving routine maintenance, with optimised life-cycle performance and costs, and minimum impact on the environment over a stipulated long service life and beyond. Partial details of design, construction, maintenance and rehabilitation/renovation of the four versions of the 3-km long Victoria Bridge (1859, 1898, 1958 and 1988) are summarised, along with the partial details of design, construction, severe deterioration and subsequent rehabilitation of the nearly 6-km long, 6-lane Champlain Bridge. Sustainability of both bridges was assessed by implementing the proposed sustainability framework developed in this research programme, along with the use of the analytical hierarchy process which involved evaluation of pairwise comparison of the various categories to assist with evaluation of the sustainability scores. These scores indicate that all four forms of Victoria Bridge (1859, 1898, 1958 and 1988) are partially sustainable, or sustainable, while the Champlain Bridge is unsustainable. This framework can be appropriately adapted for assessing the sustainability of other infrastructure assets.     

Multi-objective optimisation of bridge retrofit and post-event repair selection to enhance sustainability

The decaying state of our infrastructure paired with rising emphasis on sustainable engineering suggests the need for upgrades which are selected based on their ability to provide adequate performance under natural hazards and minimise negative impacts on the three pillars of sustainability: society, environment and economy. This paper poses a framework based on a multi-objective genetic algorithm to help identify optimal retrofit and repair combinations which ensure public safety while minimising lifetime environmental, economic and social performance measures of sustainability for infrastructure exposed to natural hazards. Assessment of the case-study application results reveals the relationship between life-cycle environmental, economic and social indicators of sustainability for a bridge subject to earthquakes. The framework is anticipated to help guide the selection of retrofit and repair combinations by providing a set of ‘near-optimal’ non-dominated solutions, which enhance sustainability while ensuring public safety and mitigating or repairing damage from natural disasters.     

中国近期乡建发展概况与类型解析

近年来，我国掀起了新一轮乡建热潮，其参与主体、内容和形式都呈现出极为复杂多元的局面，需要学界客观的分析和认知。论文通过对我国三次乡建发展历程的梳理，从经济、社会、文化、生态等四方面探讨近期乡建兴起的原因，以“问题——目标——实践”模式为导向总结出乡建的四大类型：以经济可持续为目标的产业发展、以社会可持续为目标的社区重构、以文化可持续为目标的文化复兴、以生态可持续为目标的环境保护。并以典型案例评析各种类型化实践的设计理念、实践方法、实施效果与实施限制，以期为我国乡村未来可持续发展提供借鉴。     

建筑节能设计存在问题的探讨

我国正大力倡导可持续发展的发展原则，节能型建筑已成为今后城市建设的发展方向。但从建筑节能设计的实际情况分析，仍存在一些容易被忽视的问题有待进一步深化认识。它们涉及到建筑规划、建筑通风、建筑外遮阳和建筑热桥四个方面，本文就此进行探讨，以加深共识、完善设计。     

基于三重底线理论的PPP 项目可持续评价

为解决当前我国PPP模式面临的以经济效益为主要目的,忽视社会与环境影响的问题,针对PPP项目进行系统、全面的可持续性评价迫在眉睫。基于“三重底线”理论,结合PPP项目特征从经济、社会、环境、合作及项目特征5个维度建立了可持续评价指标体系,包括14个可持续标准指标和45个关键属性指标。引入模糊逻辑思维构建评价模型,通过三重模糊数学计算得出PPP项目整体可持续性指数,采用欧几里得距离法确定PPP项目可持续水平,并识别出阻碍项目可持续水平的因素,并以说明性案例分析验证模型的可行性和合理性。     

Multi-objective and probabilistic decision-making approaches to sustainable design and management of highway bridge decks

The aging and deterioration of highway bridges and the new requirements for sustainable infrastructures and communities require innovative approaches for their management that can achieve an adequate balance between social, economic and environmental sustainability. This paper presents a multi-objective decision-making approach for the sustainable design and management of highway bridge decks, which can consider several and conflicting objectives, such as the minimisation of owner's costs, users costs, and environmental impacts and uses goal setting and compromise programming to determine the satisficing and compromise solutions that yield the best trade-off between all competing objectives. The proposed approach is based on robust reliability-based mechanistic models of the deterioration and service life of reinforced concrete bridge decks, which include diffusion models for the prediction of chloride ingress into concrete and steel corrosion and thick-walled cylinder models for the prediction of stresses induced by the accumulating corrosion products in the concrete cover. The proposed approach is illustrated on the life cycle design and management of highway bridge decks using normal and high performance concrete. It is shown that the high performance concrete deck alternative is a Pareto optimum, while the normal concrete deck is found to be a dominated solution in terms of life cycle costs and environmental impacts.     

Water sensitive residential developments: Application of LIUDD principles and methods in the Netherlands,Australia and New Zealand

One method of enhancing the health of receiving water ecosystems is to ensure that local plans and practices guiding urban development are underpinned by appropriate design principles. This paper reports on a policy and practices framework developed in New Zealand, and investigates the uptake and implementation of Low Impact Urban Design and Development (LIUDD). A hierarchy of LIUDD principles has been developed as a foundation for policy development in statutory and non-statutory plans and guidelines. Each principle is accompanied by practical implementation methods using sustainable technologies in a local context. Greenfield developments in urban growth areas in the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand are assessed with respect to elements of the framework. The assessments show that the LIUDD principles are relevant internationally across greenfield developments of similar town and catchment scales. Application of the principles can inform decision makers so that they become more critically aware of aquatic sustainability imperatives in the urban design and redevelopment process.     

震后桥梁下部结构加固方案的优选分析

基于层次分析法原理,充分考虑社会和经济效益,依据专家打分系统,建立了震后桥梁下部结构加固方案的优选方法,并且应用于一工程案例,结果表明,该方法能运用于震后桥梁下部结构加固方案的优选中,可为设计养护和管理部门的决策提供参考.     

An investigation of corporate approaches to sustainability in the US engineering and construction industry

Sustainability involves focusing on a project’s impact in three areas: (1) environmental; (2) economical; and (3) societal. In reality, companies’ approaches in the three areas are not evenly distributed. A study of current trends in the US construction industry related to the emerging focus on sustainable construction will be of great value for the engineering and construction industry to recognize the differences in corporate approaches to sustainability, for the sake of team alignment. A random cross‐section of 300 companies, consisting of 150 owner companies, 75 contractor companies and 75 design firms representing a variety of industries, was selected from annual company data assembled by the weekly construction news publication Engineering News Record (ENR). To identify sustainability‐related concepts within the context of these company documents, content analyses and chi‐square statistical analyses were performed on the selected companies’ publicly available annual reports and mission/vision/values statements. The primary objectives are to: (1) identify concepts of sustainability that are currently being emphasized within the US engineering and construction industry, possibly at the expense of other concepts; and (2) develop an understanding of the relationships between various company and industry groups related to the fundamental concepts of sustainable construction.     

Sustainability assessment and rating of buildings: Developing the methodology SBTool–H

Although sustainable building is a multidimensional concept, attention to the issue often focuses solely on environmental indicators, ignoring the substantial importance of social, economic and cultural indicators. Building sustainability involves various relations between built, natural and social systems and therefore comprises a complex of different priorities that require consideration at each stage of a building’s life-cycle. To cope with this complexity and to support sustainability systematic, holistic and practical approaches to building design need to be developed. The main objective of a systematic methodology is to support the development of a building design that achieves the most appropriate balance between the different sustainability dimensions, and is, at the same time, practical, transparent and flexible enough to be easily adapted to different types of buildings and technology.     

可持续之美,外观的性能——宣言之三

一般来说,要理解可持续性景观设计,可以从它与生态健康、社会公正以及经济繁荣3个基本要素之间的关系来着手.但在关于可持续性的讨论中,美学方面的要素鲜被提及,或者反过来,认为将视觉与审美融合对可持续和审美都是多余、无益的.主要考察美(beauty)与美学(aesthetics)在可持续性的各方面所起到的作用.本文主张,除了生态修复设计外,要使文化可持续,还需要许多别的作为.我们需要的是具有启示性的景观设计:让体验过如此景观的人能够更深刻地体会到他们的行为是如何影响环境的,而对环境足够的关切则能改善环境.这就需要考虑到“审美的环境体验”(aesthetic environmental experiences)的作用,例如对“美”的感知,应当更加倾向于“生物中心主义(bio-centric)”,而不是“个人中心主义(egocentric)”.受到美国风景园林师设计的许多作品的激发,把这种观点以宣言的形式表达出来,虽然这些作品通常并不被认为对生态设计有所贡献.     

Sustainability and the impact of Chinese policy initiatives upon construction

The environment has been perceived as an international issue, and ways of attaining sustainability are becoming important for countries seeking sustainable development. The international community has been active in developing policy frameworks towards achieving the sustainability, such as an ecological modernization approach and environment assessment. Developing countries deserve special attention in the effort to make sustainability an operative criterion in their development activities. Given the difficulties that developing countries are facing, their perceptions of the concept and principles of sustainability differ in various contexts from those of developed countries, and the attainment of sustainability is much more difficult. Therefore, the establishment of a global partnership is important for the vision of sustainability to be realized and operationalized in the world. The current stage of economic development in China provides an opportunity to incorporate environmental provisions into the national development strategies from a relatively early stage, rather than attempt retrofit to strategies. However, at present China's policy initiatives expressed in its Agenda 21 remains only a visionary concept. A comprehensive policy framework and realistic implementation measures are needed. The environmental impacts of the construction industry are extensive, particularly in developing countries. However, as in many developing countries, China's sustainable construction is still at its primary stage and current practice is unsatisfactory.     

可持续之美,外观的性能——宣言之一

一般来说,要理解可持续性景观设计,可以从它与生态健康、社会公正以及经济繁荣3个基本要素之间的关系来着手,但在关于可持导续性的讨论中,美学方面的要素鲜被提及,或者反过来,认为将视觉与审美融合对可持续和审美都是多余、无益的.主要考察美(beauty)与美学(aestheties)在可持续性的各方面所起到的作用.本文主张,除了生态修复设计外,要使得文化可持续,还需要许多别的作为,我们需要的是具有启示性的景观设计:让体验过如此景观的人能够更深刻地体会到他们的行为是如何影响环境的,而对环境足够的关切则能改善环境,这就需要考虑到“审美的环境体验”(aesthetic environmental experiences)的作用,例如对“美”的感知,应当更加倾向于“生物中心主义(biocentri()”,而不是“个人中心主义(egocentric)”,受到美国风景园林师设计的许多作品的激发,把这种观点以宣言的形式表达出来,虽然这些作品通常并不被认为对生态设计有所贡献.     

工程结构可持续性设计理论架构

工程结构设计以安全和可靠性为基本属性，在人本化关切层面不断进步，但对工程结构造成环境影响的忽视致使工程建设热潮成为环境退化诱因之一。近年兴起的生命周期评价研究致力改善这一现状，依此可建立工程结构的环境可适应性设计，实现生命周期环境影响调控，引导环境友好的工程进步。然而长期以来，工程结构设计与环境影响设计的研究进展处于两条近乎平行的轨道，两类单向设计在实践中常相互制约。工程结构与环境系统的同步可持续是土木工程可持续发展的必然要求，因而亟需构建结构与环境相容共生理论体系。基于此，提出可持续性作为结构设计的控制属性，给出可靠性满足的前提下，工程结构对环境影响在环境系统中的可承受程度。通过建立基本耦合关系和动态相容耦合关系，关联可靠性与可适应性，反映结构-环境共生体的动态反馈影响机制，构建双向设计的基本路径。进一步，定义碳强度和碳容度，提出可持续性目标选取与简化实现建议，列出多层次操作要点，为绿色建造提供理论基础。     

Concept and requirements of sustainable development in bridge engineering

The concept of sustainability is described in this paper using a single sustainable principle, two goals of sustainable development, three dimensions of sustainable engineering, four sustainable requirements and five phases of sustainable construction. Four sustainable requirements and their practice in China are discussed in particular. The safe reliability of bridges is first compared with the events of bridge failure in China and in the rest of the world and followed by structural durability, including the cracking of concrete cable-stayed bridges, deflection of concrete girder bridges and fatigue cracks of orthotropic steel decks. With respect to functional adaptability, lateral wind action on vehicles and its improvement are introduced regarding a sea-crossing bridge located in a typhoon-prone area. The Chinese practice of using two double main span suspension bridges and a twin parallel deck cable-stayed bridge is presented in discussing the final sustainable requirement: capacity extensibility.     

Key performance indicators (KPIs) and priority setting in using the multi-attribute approach for assessing sustainable intelligent buildings

The main objectives of this paper are to: firstly, identify key issues related to sustainable intelligent buildings (environmental, social, economic and technological factors); develop a conceptual model for the selection of the appropriate KPIs; secondly, test critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings; and thirdly develop a new model for measuring the level of sustainability for sustainable intelligent buildings. This paper uses a consensus-based model (Sustainable Built Environment Tool- SuBETool), which is analysed using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for multi-criteria decision-making. The use of the multi-attribute model for priority setting in the sustainability assessment of intelligent buildings is introduced. The paper commences by reviewing the literature on sustainable intelligent buildings research and presents a pilot-study investigating the problems of complexity and subjectivity. This study is based upon a survey perceptions held by selected stakeholders and the value they attribute to selected KPIs. It is argued that the benefit of the new proposed model (SuBETool) is a ‘tool’ for ‘comparative’ rather than an absolute measurement. It has the potential to provide useful lessons from current sustainability assessment methods for strategic future of sustainable intelligent buildings in order to improve a building's performance and to deliver objective outcomes. Findings of this survey enrich the field of intelligent buildings in two ways. Firstly, it gives a detailed insight into the selection of sustainable building indicators, as well as their degree of importance. Secondly, it tesst critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings. It is concluded that the priority levels for selected criteria is largely dependent on the integrated design team, which includes the client, architects, engineers and facilities managers.     

Multiple criteria evaluation of rural building's regeneration alternatives

This paper deals with the problem of the re-use of derelict buildings. The main objective of the research is to rank the available building's regeneration alternatives from the multiple-criteria sustainability approach, by combining the economic benefits of the regeneration of buildings with the environmental potential as well as the social interest. A case study is presented and regeneration problems relating to derelict and mismanaged buildings in Lithuanian rural areas are analysed by means of multi-criterion decision-making techniques. The criteria are based on sustainability indicators and represent three typological groups in sustainable decision-making, as proposed by the authors in previous research and which include the current state of abandoned buildings and their environment, regeneration possibilities and the environmental impact of the implementation of a particular redevelopment alternative. Because the information about the analysed problem is incomplete and inconsistent, the authors suggest a fuzzy method of multiple-criteria complex proportional evaluation of an the projects. A multiple-criteria analysis of an abandoned building's regeneration alternatives in Lithuanian rural areas was performed and their priorities were determined for areas of active, moderate and regressing development. A degree of utility of the best regeneration alternative compared to the worst one ranged from 20% to 55%, depending on the terrain that was analysed and the strategic goals of the regional policy. It was found that the same solution could hardly be applied to any object over the whole territory of the country.     

Building information modeling for sustainable design and LEED rating analysis

Today, there is a high level of demand for sustainable buildings. The most important decisions regarding a building's sustainable features are made during the design and preconstruction stages. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®) is the most widely adopted sustainable building rating system in the United States. For projects pursuing LEED^® certification, designers have to conduct in-depth sustainability analyses based on a building's form, materials, context, and mechanical-electrical-plumbing (MEP) systems. Since Building Information Modeling (BIM) allows for multi-disciplinary information to be superimposed within one model, it creates an opportunity to conduct these analyses accurately and efficiently as compared to the traditional methods. In this exploratory research, a case study was conducted on Salisbury University's Perdue School of Business building to demonstrate the use of BIM for sustainable design and the LEED^® certification process. First, a conceptual framework was developed to establish the relationship between BIM-based sustainability analyses and the LEED^® certification process. Next, the framework was validated via this case study. The results of this study indicate that documentation supporting LEED^® credits may be directly or indirectly prepared using the results of BIM-based sustainability analyses software. This process could streamline the LEED^® certification process and save substantial time and resources which would otherwise be required using traditional methods.