scholarly journals Aspects of environmental comfort and sustainability in the built environment

Author(s):  
Alexandre Effori de Mello

The objective of this article is to bring to discussion aspects of environmental comfort, built environment and sustainability, given the climate crisis and the urgency to find solutions to the issue. The concepts of ambience, quality of the built environment, environmental comfort and sustainable development are discussed, in addition to principles that can guide Architecture in its search for a built environment that preserves comfort through sustainability. The method used is bibliographical review, and the paper concludes by affirming that while it is not possible do determine the extent to which sustainability principles applied to the built environment can contribute to tackling the climate crisis, there is no other alternative.

Author(s):  
Muhammad Akmal Hakim bin Hishammuddin ◽  
Gabriel Ling Hoh Teck ◽  
Loon Wai Chau ◽  
Chin Siong Ho

CASBEE-City tool determines the city’s Built Environment Efficiency (BEE) by calculating the improvement of Quality of Life (Q) over human activities’ Environmental Load (L) within the city’s hypothetical boundary. A total of 58 variables (57 Q indicators and one variable for L) are used in the worldwide version of CASBEE-City which were grounded using ISO 37120:2014 Sustainable Development of Communities and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations (UN). This paper examines the application of CASBEE-City for Malaysian cities using the case of Johor Bahru City and identifies assessment indicators which are customised based on the data availability, reliability and suitability through focus group discussions (FGDs) which involved 36 respondents (researchers, urban planners and stakeholders). This paper reveals Johor Bahru with moderate score B+ in 2010 and 2025. Consensus were also achieved from the 36 FGD respondents for the practicability and future potential of CASBEE-City and BEE framework in Johor Bahru.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-309
Author(s):  
Mirosława Witkowska-Dąbrowska

The purpose of this study has been to identify the degree of sustainability in the development of the Province of Warmia and Mazury. The theoretical and empirical investigations were conducted between 2003-2014 based on data from the Local Data Bank. Using a comparative indicator method, 20 indicators were developed, with different directions of preference. The evaluation involves the concept of uniform preference, hence the higher the assessment indicator, the better the situation in the evaluated area unit. Our studies on the sustainable development of the Province of Warmia and Mazury suggest that the indicators measuring the environmental dimension and consequently the quality of life of the residents (in this aspect) score higher than the country's average values. It is also optimistic that some progress, however small, can be seen in this area based on the analyzed dynamics of changes.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 832
Author(s):  
Mauro Capocelli ◽  
Vincenzo Piemonte

Water is fundamental for the quality of both ecosystems and society, and plays a key role for energy and food production, a prerequisite for the sustainable development [...]


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 769
Author(s):  
Mona Treude

Cities are becoming digital and are aiming to be sustainable. How they are combining the two is not always apparent from the outside. What we need is a look from inside. In recent years, cities have increasingly called themselves Smart City. This can mean different things, but generally includes a look towards new digital technologies and claim that a Smart City has various advantages for its citizens, roughly in line with the demands of sustainable development. A city can be seen as smart in a narrow sense, technology wise, sustainable or smart and sustainable. Current city rankings, which often evaluate and classify cities in terms of the target dimensions “smart” and “sustainable”, certify that some cities are both. In its most established academic definitions, the Smart City also serves both to improve the quality of life of its citizens and to promote sustainable development. Some cities have obviously managed to combine the two. The question that arises is as follows: What are the underlying processes towards a sustainable Smart City and are cities really using smart tools to make themselves sustainable in the sense of the 2015 United Nations Sustainability Goal 11? This question is to be answered by a method that has not yet been applied in research on cities and smart cities: the innovation biography. Based on evolutionary economics, the innovation biography approaches the process towards a Smart City as an innovation process. It will highlight which actors are involved, how knowledge is shared among them, what form citizen participation processes take and whether the use of digital and smart services within a Smart City leads to a more sustainable city. Such a process-oriented method should show, among other things, to what extent and when sustainability-relevant motives play a role and which actors and citizens are involved in the process at all.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract Autism is a set of heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions, characterised by early-onset difficulties in social communication and restricted, repetitive behaviour and interests. The worldwide population prevalence is about 1% with an increasing incidence and prevalence rates. Autism affects more male than female individuals, and comorbidity is common (>70% have concurrent conditions). Determinants of these changes in incidence and prevalence rates may also be related to exposure to environmental factors and to modifications in diagnostic concepts and criteria. In spite of the uncertainty in determinants of incidence of autisms, there is evidence that environmental characteristics play a significant role both as autism risk factors and as potential obstacles that influence the capabilities of autonomously and fully “using” everyday spaces. The workshop aims to provide a framework on risk factors of autism and explore the relationship with the built environment, focusing on the quality of the everyday spaces and projecting the effects that it could have in the long term on achieving a desirable level of quality of life. The 11th Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations “Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” underlines the necessity of designing policies and projects acting to enhance and promote healthy cities and communities by addressing the needs of the most vulnerable groups of inhabitants. Herewith we bring together the discipline of Public Health and Urban Design to promote an interdisciplinary debate on a little explored topic investigating how the approaches adopted during childhood to promote the wellbeing of people with ASD can be related or strengthen by focusing also on built environment design intervention to pursue and reach the same objectives even during adulthood. The workshop will consist of four presentations. The first focuses on giving an overview on current knowledge of intervention for people with autism, presenting also criteria for evidence-based interventions. The second explores the relationship between autism and built environment by providing an exhaustive framework of the available research literature in order to identify a first set of spatial requirements for autism friendly cities. The third examines the impact of built environment on ASD users with the aim of developing a specific evaluation tool for healthcare spaces and best practices formulation according to the specific sensorial hypo- or hyper-activation of people with autism. Finally, the fourth reports the results of a two years Research & Development project called “GAP REDUCE” finalized at developing an Assistive Technology tool to support people with ASD, adult and high-functioning, to plan urban itineraries towards daily destinations. Key messages World's incidence of autism is about 1% with an increasing incidence whose determining rates may also be related to environmental factors and to modifications in diagnostic concepts and criteria. Environmental characteristics play a significant role also as potential obstacles that influence the capabilities of people with autism of autonomously and fully “using” everyday spaces.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Jenny Young

Environmental Management and Sustainable Development (EMSD) would like to thank the following reviewers for reviewing manuscripts from May 1, 2021, to August 1, 2021. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Many authors, regardless of whether EMSD publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Macrothink Institute appreciates the following reviewers’ rigorous and conscientious efforts for this journal. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review during this period. Adriano Magliocco, University of Genoa, ItalyAristotulus Ernst Tungka, University of Sam Ratulangi Manado, IndonesiaChristiane do Nascimento Monte, Universidade Federal Fluminense, BrazilChuck Chuan Ng, Xiamen University Malaysia, MalaysiaDastun Gabriel Msuya, Sokoine University Of Agriculture, TanzaniaGiacomo Chiesa, Politecnico di Torino, ItalyJephias Mapuva, Bindura University, ZimbabweJoão Fernando Pereira Gomes, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, PortugueseMd. Nuralam Hossain, Chongqing University, ChinaOylum Gokkurt Baki, Sinop University, TurkeyPankaj Maheshwari, University of Nevada, USATateda Masafumi, Toyama Prefectural University, Japan


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