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.
Abstract:Globally, only 2% of existing building stock is built yearly; the remaining 98% already exist. Energy consumption and indoor thermal comfort of the existing building stock are not encouraging. This is due to many challenges associated with existing buildings; the challenges range from cracks, leakages, poor insulation, heat losses and high rate of unsustainable technologies. This paper investigates possible barriers facing the adoption and application of sustainable technologies (STs) for sustainable or energy-efficient upgrade of existing buildings. New STs are manufactured on a regular basis to meet improved energy efficiency standards, yet there are minimal actions/attempts to adopt and apply improved technologies in existing buildings for energy efficiency. Indeed, there are limited studies focused on the use of qualitative approaches to identify barriers to adoption and use of STs. Thus, a semi-structured interview approach was adopted and applied using sustainability/energy efficiency professionals, building services engineers, project managers, architects, and facility managers in Australia. The results indicate that barriers to the adoption and application of sustainable technologies are perceived benefits in demolish-and-build, age of building, cost of STs, perceived poor payback time, unreliable energy-savings projections, existing design, hidden and overall cost of renovation, and cost of STs.
Abstract:The construction industry is one of the largest exploiters of both renewable and nonrenewable natural resources. It was inevitable that it had found itself at the centre of concerns regarding environmental impact. The process and operation of building construction consumes a great deal of materials throughout its service life cycle. The selection and use of sustainable building materials play an important role in the design and construction of green building. This chapter set out to present an overview of sustainable building materials and their impacts on the environment. It also discusses the life cycle assessment as a methodological principle and framework, and its limitations for the analysis of sustainable building materials.
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