Intertwining histories of building professionals

New Zealand's devastating Canterbury earthquakes provided an opportunity to examine the efficacy of existing regulations and policies relevant to seismic strengthening of vulnerable buildings. The mixed-methods approach adopted, comprising both qualitative and quantitative approaches, revealed that some of the provisions in these regulations pose as constraints to appropriate strengthening of earthquake-prone buildings. Those provisions include the current seismic design philosophy, lack of mandatory disclosure of seismic risks and ineffective timeframes for strengthening vulnerable buildings. Recommendations arising from these research findings and implications for pre-disaster mitigation for future earthquake and Canterbury's post-disaster reconstruction suggest: (1) a reappraisal of the requirements for earthquake engineering design and construction, (2) a review and realignment of all regulatory frameworks relevant to earthquake risk mitigation, and (3) the need to develop a national programme necessary to achieve consistent mitigation efforts across the country. These recommendations are important in order to present a robust framework where New Zealand communities such as Christchurch can gradually recover after a major earthquake disaster, while planning for pre-disaster mitigation against future earthquakes.     

Enhancing seismic risk mitigation decisions: a motivational approach

Implementing seismic risk mitigation is a major challenge in many earthquake-prone regions, despite the availability of a significant number of risk reduction measures such as technical design solutions and regulatory frameworks that include building codes, policies and regulations necessary to facilitate successful risk reduction activities. However, building owners have been found unwilling to retrofit their earthquake-prone buildings. The objective of this research is to investigate how to enhance buildings owners’ earthquake hazard preparedness decisions by adopting a motivational approach in order to reduce their vulnerability to earthquake risks. A multiple case studies approach was adopted and interviews conducted with the various stakeholders involved in seismic adjustments decisions. Significant intrinsic and extrinsic interventions such as intensifying and promoting the use of critical awareness motivators, financial and property market-based incentives necessary to enhance building owners’ decisions were revealed from the analysis of the qualitative data. These revealed intrinsic and extrinsic interventions offer plausible explanations regarding how human motivational orientation can be used to influence disaster preparedness decisions by increasing the salience of seismic risk issues.     

The diffusion over time and space of energy efficiency in building

Awareness of global warming and the extent of greenhouse gas emissions have focused more attention upon energy efficiency in building. Moreover, the inventory of “green” office space in the United States has increased dramatically since the introduction of rating schemes that attest to the energy efficiency or sustainability of commercial buildings. In some metropolitan areas, the supply of certified office buildings has more than doubled in the last decade, and there are a few metropolitan areas where “green” office space now accounts for more than a quarter of the total office stock. In this paper, we analyze the diffusion of buildings certified for energy efficiency across US property markets. Using a panel of 48 metropolitan areas observed over the last fifteen years, we trace the diffusion of green building practices across the country. We then model the geographic patterns and dynamics of building certification, relating industry composition, changes in economic conditions, characteristics of the local commercial property market, and the presence of human capital, to the cross-sectional variation in energy-efficient building technologies and the diffusion of those technologies over time. Understanding the determinants and the rate at which energy-efficient building practices diffuse over space and time is important for designing policies to affect resource consumption in the built environment.     

商务办公建筑能耗调研及分析

对山东某地区商务办公建筑进行了调研。应用抽样调查的方法,对该地区37个样本量的能耗进行统计处理,得出了该地区单位面积建筑能耗为72.14 k W·h/(m~2·a),单位面积供暖能耗为14.74 kgce/(m~2·a)。研究结果表明,山东某地区的商务办公建筑在用能方面还存在一些问题,建筑节能潜力较大。这对于科学确定商务办公建筑的能耗指标,进而实施用能超定额加价政策具有一定的参考价值。     

Understanding the New Zealand non-domestic building stock

Unlike the residential building stock, most countries have poor information on their non-domestic stock. This necessitates the use of other data sources. In the mid-1980s the (then) New Zealand Department of Valuation digitized its valuation records. This permitted the first analysis of an entire country's non-domestic buildings. A very long-tail probability density function was identified, with the largest 5% of buildings containing more than 40% of the floor space. This knowledge informed the development of research for understanding non-domestic buildings as well as underpinning the 1996 revision of the NZ Building Code Clause H1 Energy Efficiency. More recently an analysis of valuation data has provided the Building Energy End-use Study (BEES) with a national sampling frame to examine energy and water end-uses in non-domestic buildings. The development of processes for collecting and analyzing data is described. Considerable changes in understanding of valuation data have occurred for documenting the non-domestic building stock. New online and geographic information sources can validate and improve building data. The use of such a database supports improved understanding of the changing nature of the building stock and potential intervention points, as well as harnessing regulatory and market forces.     

防恐怖爆炸重要建筑物的概念设计

提出重要建筑物防护恐怖爆炸的概念设计问题。通过分析几个典型恐怖爆炸破坏建筑物事件,指出建筑物可能产生的一些实质性破坏及其特点;强调建筑规划设计中要求建筑师、规划师与结构工程师、爆炸防护专家及安全顾问共同参与确定总体方案的重要性;阐明运用各种减爆与安全措施对建筑物进行综合防爆的设计观点。内容涉及建筑物场地选择及外部空间环境设计、建筑物的体形及结构总体布置、建筑物内部按风险程度不同进行分区设计等防护概念。     

Dynamic-MFA examination of Chilean housing stock: long-term changes and earthquake damage

The dynamics and metabolism of the built environment are important for understanding the construction, renovation and demolition activities that characterize its long-term physical development. Previous research on building stock development is limited, particularly for developing countries. As one of the most seismically active countries in the world, Chile's built environment is constantly subjected to losses. This study included earthquake vulnerability and damage in a dynamic material flow analysis (MFA) of the Chilean housing stock. Stock and flows of residential floor area were modelled using population and life style parameters. Demolition was modelled assuming a constant demolition rate. By characterizing the building stock according to vulnerability classes and establishing a mass balance per class, the effects of different typology distributions on the overall damage to the stock caused by earthquakes could be assessed. Scenarios with different trends in typology distribution for new construction and renovation suggest that significant potential exists for reducing future earthquake damage in the Chilean housing stock. This is best achieved by gradually reducing the vulnerability of buildings to earthquakes. Legislation, building standards and financial instruments could be used to ensure such reductions in earthquake damage and thereby provide socio-economic benefits in the future.     

Risk and regulation: can improved government action reduce the impacts of natural disasters?

From an examination of national policies for risk mitigation, the paper asks what types of laws are successful and should be more widely adopted, and what does not work. Three types of regulations are considered: (1) regulations for constructing new buildings and code enforcement; (2) regulations for intervening in/upgrading the existing building stock; and (3) regulation of the insurance industry. When applied, improved codes can substantially reduce the impacts of natural disasters. However, unnecessary complexity is shown to compromise implementation and enforcement. The widespread destruction of buildings in the earthquakes of Kocaeli, Turkey, in 1999 and Gujarat, India, in 2001 was not due to inadequate codes. Destruction occurred because codes were not generally adopted. Improving the application and enforcement of codes in developing countries are necessary key measures. For the strengthening of existing substandard buildings, some regulations exist and some successful programmes of evaluation and strengthening are in progress. However, lessons from the US experience indicate legislation is needed to back such programmes, and further incentives for action are needed. Several national insurance schemes for natural catastrophe losses (US programmes for flood, New Zealand programmes for earthquake, and French programmes for all catastrophic natural hazards) have considerable potential to stimulate mitigation activity. Ultimately, coercion by government is only part of the answer. The success of any government action depends equally on the development in society of a 'safety culture' in which citizens both understand the risks they face and are prepared to participate in the management of them.     

Rehabilitation of existing building stock: A system dynamics model to support policy development

The development of policies to support an agenda of urban rehabilitation as a part of a city's approach to engender sustainability is a difficult process owing to the need to consider a large number of stakeholder needs and demands. For example, Hong Kong has accumulated a considerable amount of building stock due to its rapid economic development over the last 50 years. However, despite Hong Kong's economic growth, it has overlooked the need to rehabilitate its existing building stock (i.e. to restore the condition, operation and capacity of buildings). As such, a significant proportion of Hong Kong's ageing building stock is in need of rehabilitation. Further, the absence of a systemic maintenance policy, has stymied the Hong Kong's government's ability to ensure that its private building stock are resilient and adaptable for the future. Responding to the resulting need to develop urban rehabilitation policies for Hong Kong, this paper develops a system dynamics (SD) model to: (1) understand the future trend of the aged private buildings, particularly their sizes and age distribution; and (2) examine the complex relationships between allocated resources such as building professionals, number of aged private buildings and the strength of rehabilitation policies. The SD model developed can be used as a planning tool to simulate the effects of regulatory changes on aged private building stock management in consideration of available resources. The model development relies on a real-life database that can be applied to any city that faces the need to rehabilitate its ageing building stock as a part of an urban rehabilitation strategy.     

Do LEED-certified buildings save energy? Not really…

Newsham et al. have recently published a re-analysis of energy-consumption data for LEED-certified commercial buildings supplied by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) and US Green Building Council. They find that, on average, LEED buildings use 18-39% less energy per floor area than their conventional counterparts, consistent with and adding clarity to conclusions originally reached by NBI. These conclusions, however, hang on a particular definition of the mean energy intensity of a collection of buildings that is not related to the total energy used by those buildings. Furthermore, site energy considered by Newsham et al. and NBI, unlike source energy used for the EPA's building Energy Star rating, does not account for the energy consumed off-site in generating and delivering electric energy to the building, whose inclusion is crucial for understanding greenhouse gas emission associated with building operation. Here I demonstrate that both the site energy and source energy used by the set of 35 LEED office buildings and Newsham et al.’s matching CBECS office buildings are statistically equivalent. Hence Newsham et al. offer no evidence that LEED-certification has collectively lowered either site or source energy for office buildings.     

A screening methodology for implementing cost effective energy retrofit measures in Canadian office buildings

Private and public sectors own and operate an array of office buildings that consume energy and contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Energy demands can be reduced by applying energy retrofit measures (ERMs) to existing buildings. The choice of ERMs involves evaluation of applicability, energy end uses and cost of application versus energy savings. This paper describes a methodology developed to screen office buildings for their current level of energy consumption and potential for retrofit application. Selection of an optimal set of ERMs is influenced by climate, occupancy, heating and cooling systems, envelope properties and building geometry. When assessing the implications of applying ERMs to a large building stock it is vital to screen the complete building set for optimal retrofit opportunities. This can be accomplished by characterizing office building stock into a manageable set of archetypes and simulating building operation using energy simulation software. Using regression analyses, a model was developed for estimating the energy consumption. Present value analysis was used to optimize the evaluation of the various ERMs. The methodology developed can be used to simplify the ranking of buildings for retrofit; to select and combine ERMs, and to plan energy and GHG reduction activities.     

Improving energy benchmarking with self-reported data

Energy benchmarking for buildings has become increasingly important in government policy and industry practice for energy efficiency. The questions of how energy benchmarking is currently conducted, and how it might be improved using rapidly growing quantities of self-reported data, are examined. A case study of commercial office buildings in New York City demonstrates how the rapid growth in self-reported data presents both new opportunities and challenges for energy benchmarking for buildings. A critique is presented for the scoring methodology and data sources for Energy Star, one of the largest and most successful benchmarking certification schemes. Findings from recent studies are examined to illustrate how this certification currently works in the marketplace. Self-reported building energy data are rapidly growing in Portfolio Manager (the user interface to Energy Star) due to mandatory energy benchmarking laws, and can be used to improve Energy Star's current scoring methods. These self-reported data are tested and improved for analysis by applying theories and methods of data quality developed in computer science, statistics and data management. These new data constitute a critical building block for the development of energy efficiency policies, and will affect how government, consultants, and owners measure and compare building energy use.     

Peak load characteristics of Sydney office buildings and policy recommendations for peak load reduction

Growth in peak period electricity demand has driven the requirement for a significant expansion of Sydney's electricity network. Energy efficiency and demand management activities in office buildings may be an alternative to electricity network augmentation, with significant economic and environmental benefits. This paper identifies and characterises trends in electricity peak demand in Sydney's office buildings, comparing a range of high and low energy consuming buildings. The paper assesses the potential for energy efficiency and demand management strategies in office buildings to reduce peak loads and hence defer electricity network augmentation. Base building electricity load data was analysed for a sample of 25 Sydney office buildings, along with Sydney electricity substation and temperature data. Peak loads for buildings with best practice energy performance were found to be 26% lower than for buildings with average energy performance, while annual electricity consumption was 57% lower. With these findings, this paper has assessed the effectiveness of current energy efficiency policy for peak demand management and has recommended strengthening energy efficiency policies in order to capture coincidental peak load reductions, as well as new policies specifically targeting peak demand management. It was found that these measures could offer significant potential to defer network investment.     

商务办公楼的负荷计算与变压器配置

从商务办公楼的冷源、照明、电梯、景观照明等负荷的特点入手,结合用电量统计数据及变压器的特性．对商务办公楼的负荷计算、变压器损耗进行分析．得出变压器在不影响运行可靠性的情况下采用大容量少台数比小容量多台数节能的结论．同时给出商务办公楼负荷计算相关系数取值及变压器配置的一些建议。     

苏州市商业办公建筑能耗现状分析

基于苏州地区商业办公建筑能源审计统计数据,按照不同建造年代、不同围护结构构造、不同冷热源选取典型商业办公建筑,对比苏州市商业办公建筑单位面积能耗指标和分项能耗指标,分析得出其能耗影响因素,为夏热冬冷地区商业办公建筑的节能技改和运行管理提供针对性建议。     

地下商业建筑防为设计

随着经济的发展和社会的进步,建筑行业也得到了快速的发展。商业建筑逐渐增多,地下商业建筑防火设计是地下商业建筑建设中的难点。防火设计是否科学合理,直接关系到人们的生命和财产安全,必须引起设计人员的重视。     

超高层城市综合体建筑消防设计分析

对城市综合体建筑消防设计进行了论述,从高层商业建筑、超高层办公建筑的人流疏散和首层、中庭消防处理等方面进行了分析,探讨了综合体中多种使用功能的集约问题及其适用性与经济性的关系,以供参考。     

Climate co-benefits of green building standards: water,waste and transportation

This paper quantifies the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions co-benefits associated with water, waste and transportation usage in certified green commercial office buildings in California. The study compares the measured values of water, waste and transportation usage self-reported by office buildings certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED EBOM) to baseline values of conventional California office buildings. The green buildings in the LEED EBOM dataset produced 50% less GHGs due to water consumption than baseline buildings, 48% less due to solid waste management, and 5% less due to transportation. If applied to the entire California office building stock, performance typical of the certified green buildings would save 730,038?MgCO₂e/yr (metric tonnes) from transportation, 87,601?MgCO₂e/yr from water, and 45,280?MgCO₂e/yr from waste, for a total potential savings of about 862,920?MgCO₂e/yr relative to conventional construction. In addition, buildings earning additional credits for specified performance thresholds for water and waste in the LEED EBOM code attained performance levels even higher than required by the code provisions, suggesting that such code provisions in other contexts may help incentivize larger GHG emissions reductions than anticipated. Specific recommendations are made for building standards and certification schemes.     

以德国为例居住区评价体系初探

一般的绿色建筑评价体系对建筑,尤其是商业、办公建筑项目的评价很多,新建住宅项目也逐渐占了很大一部分,但是对城市区域尤其是居住区的关注则比较少。本文从绿色建筑评价体系的全球背景出发,以德国DGNB的发展为例,针对居住区评价进行详细介绍。