scholarly journals Mass Timber Envelopes in Passivhaus Buildings: Designing for Moisture Safety in Hot and Humid Australian Climates

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 478
Author(s):  
Marcus Strang ◽  
Paola Leardini ◽  
Arianna Brambilla ◽  
Eugenia Gasparri

The uptake of buildings employing cross-laminated timber (CLT) assemblies and designed to Passivhaus standard has accelerated internationally over the past two decades due to several factors including responses to the climate crisis by decarbonising the building stock. Structural CLT technology and the Passivhaus certification both show measurable benefits in reducing energy consumption, while contributing to durability and indoor comfort. However, there is a general lack of evidence to support a fast uptake of these technologies in Australia. This paper responds to the compelling need of providing quantitative data and adoption strategies; it explores their combined application as a potential pathway for climate-appropriate design of energy-efficient and durable mass timber envelope solutions for subtropical and tropical Australian climates. Hygrothermal risk assessments of interstitial condensation and mould growth of CLT wall assemblies inform best-practice design of mass timber buildings in hot and humid climates. This research found that the durability of mass timber buildings located in hot and humid climates may benefit from implementing the Passivhaus standard to manage interior conditions. The findings also suggested that climate-specific design of the wall assembly is critical for mass timber buildings, in conjunction with excellent stormwater management practices during construction and corrosion protection for metallic fasteners.

Author(s):  
Marcus Strang ◽  
Paola Leardini ◽  
Arianna Brambilla ◽  
Eugenia Gasparri

The uptake of buildings employing cross-laminated timber (CLT) assemblies and designed to Passivhaus standard has accelerated internationally over the past two decades due to several factors including design responses to the climate crisis by decarbonising the building stock. Structural CLT technology and the voluntary Passivhaus certification both show measurable benefits in reducing energy consumption, while contributing to durability and indoor comfort. However, there is a general lack of evidence to support a fast uptake of these technologies in Australia. This paper responds to the compelling need of providing quantitative data and adoption strategies, it explores their combined application as a potential pathway for climate-appropriate design of energy-efficient and durable mass timber envelope solutions for subtropical and tropical Australian climates. Hygrothermal risk assessments of interstitial condensation and mould growth of CLT wall assemblies inform best-practice design of mass timber buildings in hot and humid climates. This research found that the durability of mass timber buildings located in hot and humid climates may benefit from implementing the Passivhaus standard to manage interior conditions. The findings also suggested that climate-specific design of the wall assembly is critical for mass timber buildings, in conjunction with excellent stormwater management practices during construction and corrosion protection for metallic fasteners.


1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 269-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Mehler ◽  
M. W. Ostrowski

Increasingly extended and alternative methods for urban stormwater management have been discussed in Germany and elsewhere. Without question an economically and ecologically sound combination of central and decentral measures will be a concept of the future. Yet, at present the introduction of approaches other than traditional combined sewer systems is restricted due to missing planning tools and technologies. Adding a number of frequently used Best Stormwater Management Practices (BSMP's) has widely extended the applicability of an existing stormwater water balance and pollution load model.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Won Shin ◽  
Laura McCann

This study explores factors affecting adoption of two stormwater management practices, rain gardens and rain barrels. Mail survey data from Columbia, Missouri indicate adoption rates of 3.12 percent (rain gardens) and 7.47 percent (rain barrels). This unique dataset enables us to distinguish among nonadopters using knowledge levels, and to investigate the effect of practice-specific barriers. Clustered multinomial logistic regressions reveal serious gardeners are more likely to adopt both practices. Specific barriers differ by practice and type of nonadopter. Adding practice-specific barriers increased pseudo R2 values from 0.12 to 0.22 for rain gardens and from 0.13 to 0.26 for rain barrels.


2018 ◽  
Vol 04 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850023 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Wesley Burnett ◽  
Christopher Mothorpe

This study explores one of the least studied but most widely used instruments to control stormwater runoff — retention ponds. It is surprising that so little research within the economics literature has examined the efficacy of stormwater retention ponds. We address this gap in the literature by (1) offering a brief review of the existing literature; (2) discussing the nature of retention ponds as an impure public good; (3) extending a theoretical model to explain how stormwater runoff is currently managed; and (4) offering illustrative examples of governmental stormwater management practices in the coastal region of South Carolina. We posit that the current regulatory environment leads to a less than socially optimal level of management including a general lack of compliance enforcement and a misunderstanding of resource ownership. If sea levels continue to rise due to global climate change, then the mismanagement of stormwater runoff can lead to potentially severe adverse effects within coastal watersheds and estuarine ecosystems. We propose a combination of subsidy schemes and more-stringent enforcement actions to invoke a socially optimal provision of stormwater management services.


2022 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Hu ◽  
Wen Chen ◽  
Winnie Yip

Abstract Background Although management is important in healthcare, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have little experience measuring the competence of hospital management. While improving hospital management is the main focus of hospital reform in China, few studies have empirically documented the baseline situation to inform policy design. Methods We assessed the management practices of county-level hospitals in Guizhou in southwest China during 2015. We used the Development World Management Survey (D-WMS) instrument to interview 273 managers in 139 hospitals. We scored the management practices of the sampled hospitals, overall and in four dimensions (operations, monitoring, targets, personnel management) and three processes (implementation, usage, monitoring). We then converted the scores to the WMS scale and compared these with data from two other LMICs and seven high-income countries (HICs). Results On a scale of 1 (‘worst practice’) to 5 (‘best practice’), the mean (SD) hospital D-WMS scores were 2.57 (0.46) overall; 2.71 (0.48), 2.64 (0.58), 2.40 (0.64), and 2.56 (0.40) for operation, monitoring, target, and personnel, respectively; and 2.43 (0.48), 2.62 (0.48), and 2.66 (0.47) for implementation, usage, and monitoring, respectively. After conversion to WMS scores, China ranked seventh of 10 countries, after six HICs and higher than one HIC and two other LMICs (Brazil and India). China ranked higher than the two LMICs in each of the four dimensional scores. Conclusions Chinese county-level hospitals should improve their low quality of management by prioritizing target-setting and process implementation, particularly in personnel management. Meanwhile, modern management training should be given to most clinical managers.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirali Shalwani ◽  
Brian Lines

PurposeThe Project Management Body of Knowledge recommends the use of issue logs as a best practice to minimize the potential project cost and schedule growth. Although the broader topic of project control has been widely studied in the construction literature, the specific application of issue logs has remained relatively understudied. This study aims to analyze the extent and consistency with which construction teams utilize issue logs and the corresponding project performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approachA dataset of 5,635 individual issues was gathered from the final issue logs of 881 small building projects delivered via the design–bid–build method. Differences between groups were determined using the Kruskal–Wallis H test with post hoc testing via the Mann–Whitney U test with pairwise comparison.FindingsThe results showed that, on average, project teams who used issue logs to a greater extent achieved a 3.1 to 4.3% reduction in cost growth and a 5.3 to 12.3% reduction in schedule growth. This result shows that issue logs can be used to improve construction project performance in the areas of cost and schedule.Originality/valueThis result provides a contribution to practitioners, wherein project teams should be encouraged to establish their issue management practices early in the project schedule to encourage greater issue log usage for the remainder of the project.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Klump ◽  
Tim Brown ◽  
Rohan Clarke ◽  
Robert Glasgow ◽  
Steve Micklethwaite ◽  
...  

<p>Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), commonly known as drones, provide sensing capabilities that address the critical scale-gap between ground- and satellite-based observations. Their versatility allows researchers to deliver near-real-time information for society.</p><p>Key to delivering RPA information is the capacity to enable researchers to systematically collect, process, manage and share RPA-borne sensor data. Importantly, this should allow vertical integration across scales and horizontal integration across different RPA deployments. However, as an emerging technology, the best practice and standards are still developing and the large data volumes collected during RPA missions can be challenging.</p><p>Australia’s Scalable Drone Cloud (ASDC) aims to coordinate and standardise how scientists from across earth, environmental and agricultural research manage, process and analyse data collected by RPA-borne sensors, by establishing best practices in managing 3D-geospatial data and aligned with the FAIR data principles.</p><p>The ASDC is building a cloud-native platform for research drone data management and analytics, driven by exemplar data management practices, data-processing pipelines, and search and discovery of drone data. The aim of the platform is to integrate sensing capabilities with easy-to-use storage, processing, visualisation and data analysis tools (including computer vision / deep learning techniques) to establish a national ecosystem for drone data management.</p><p>The ASDC is a partnership of the Monash Drone Discovery Platform, CSIRO and key National Collaborative Research Infrastructure (NCRIS) capabilities including the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF), Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), and AuScope.</p><p>This presentation outlines the roadmap and first proof-of-concept implementation of the ASDC.</p>


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