Lighting criteria in the Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method

1999 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.M. Chung ◽  
J. Burnett
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kailun Feng ◽  
Weizhuo Lu ◽  
Thomas Olofsson ◽  
Shiwei Chen ◽  
Hui Yan ◽  
...  

Construction accounts for a considerable number of environmental impacts, especially in countries with rapid urbanization. A predictive environmental assessment method enables a comparison of alternatives in construction operations to mitigate these environmental impacts. Process-based life cycle assessment (pLCA), which is the most widely applied environmental assessment method, requires lots of detailed process information to evaluate. However, a construction project usually operates in uncertain and dynamic project environments, and capturing such process information represents a critical challenge for pLCA. Discrete event simulation (DES) provides an opportunity to include uncertainty and capture the dynamic environments of construction operations. This study proposes a predictive assessment method that integrates DES and pLCA (DES-pLCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of on-site construction operations and supply chains. The DES feeds pLCA with process information that considers the uncertain and dynamic environments of construction, while pLCA guides the comprehensive procedure of environmental assessment. A DES-pLCA prototype was developed and implemented in a case study of an 18-storey building in Northeast China. The results showed that the biggest impact variations on the global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication (EP), photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP), abiotic depletion potential (ADP), and human toxicity potential (HTP) were 5.1%, 4.1%, 4.1%, 4.7%, 0.3%, and 5.9%, respectively, due to uncertain and dynamic factors. Based on the proposed method, an average impact reduction can be achieved for these six indictors of 2.5%, 21.7%, 8.2%, 4.8%, 32.5%, and 0.9%, respectively. The method also revealed that the material wastage rate of formwork installation was the most crucial managing factor that influences global warming performance. The method can support contractors in the development and management of environmentally friendly construction operations that consider the effects of uncertainty and dynamics.


2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Sang Wong

Critical thinking skill is considered to be one of the important attributes to nurture students to cope with the challenges coming from this ever-changing world. The training of critical thinking skill could be quite different from the conventional education. Thus, special arrangements should be considered in the curriculum design and effective assessment method should be employed to test the subsequent learning outcome. This study was to evaluate prospectively the development of critical thinking disposition of the student prosthetists and orthotists in Hong Kong and a validated instrument, the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) was used. The results showed that there was significant improvement in 5 out of the 7 domains, namely Truthseeking, Open-mindedness, Systematicity, Analyticity, Critical thinking self-confidence, Inquisitiveness and Maturity of judgment in 3 years' time. Further curriculum enhancements were suggested as the sum of all the domains was just slightly above the threshold of positive tendency.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10094
Author(s):  
Jan Pešta ◽  
Markéta Šerešová ◽  
Vladimír Kočí

The environmental impacts of buildings are based on the construction products, which together with their packaging can be assessed as one product system. To reduce the environmental impacts of buildings, the products and their packaging need to be optimised and analysed using environmental assessment. The purpose of this study is to assess the packaging related to the product according to the Life Cycle Assessment method. The environmental assessment was performed using the Product Environmental Footprint methodology, version 3.0. To compare the primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging, the results of the climate change indicator were used as a base to calculate the Package-to-Product (PtP) indicator. Among the considered scenarios to handle the waste packaging (landfilling scenario, material recovery scenario, energy recovery scenario, and the mixed scenario), the material recovery scenario is the most preferable and, for most of the packaging materials, the scenario with the lowest impact. Following the PtP result, the secondary packaging in the roof tile system has a significant share of the impact of the whole system (16% for the energy recovery scenario). Moreover, the results confirm the PtP indicator as the appropriate indicator to analyse the environmental impacts of construction products.


Coatings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Naranjo ◽  
Andrés Colonia ◽  
Jaime Mesa ◽  
Heriberto Maury ◽  
Aníbal Maury-Ramírez

Green roof systems, a technology which was used in major ancient buildings, are currently becoming an interesting strategy to reduce the negative impact of traditional urban development caused by ground impermeabilization. Only regarding the environmental impact, the application of these biological coatings on buildings has the potential of acting as a thermal, moisture, noise, and electromagnetic barrier. At the urban scale, they might reduce the heat island effect and sewage system load, improve runoff water and air quality, and reconstruct natural landscapes including wildlife. In spite of these significant benefits, the current design and construction methods are not completely regulated by law because there is a lack of knowledge of their technical performance. Hence, this review of the current state of the art presents a proper green roof classification based on their components and vegetation layer. Similarly, a detailed description from the key factors that control the hydraulic and thermal performance of green roofs is given. Based on these factors, an estimation of the impact of green roof systems on sustainable construction certifications is included (i.e., LEED—Leadership in Energy and Environment Design, BREEAM—Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, CASBEE—Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency, BEAM—Building Environmental Assessment Method, ESGB—Evaluation Standard for Green Building). Finally, conclusions and future research challenges for the correct implementation of green roofs are addressed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document