Gholami Rostam, Mehdi (2024) Energy efficiency assessment in building designs integrating climate resilience and long-term environmental sustainability. PhD thesis, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract
Achieving long-term energy-efficient buildings has been among the top priorities in the building sector. This goal requires exploring various solutions and deploying new design practices. These practices include passive designs and even harnessing renewable energy resources like solar panels and wind turbines. The critical point in the success of such solutions lies in their ability to maintain their desired performance throughout time. Otherwise, the building will gradually lose its intended energy efficiency. Climate change is one of the primary sources of disrupting building energy performance over time, which constantly alters certain factors within the governing boundary conditions relevant to energy calculations (e.g., temperature, humidity, or solar radiation). However, every energy efficiency study should investigate its solutions against sustainability and reach a trade-off in this regard. Over-implementation of some of the outlined solutions can impose unavoidable burdens on the environment, particularly concerning the disposal of construction and demolition waste. For example, the ongoing debate surrounding the disposal of photovoltaic panels in the industry highlights this issue. Therefore, the present project aims to enhance long-term energy efficiency in the building sector, considering the role of climate change. This objective will be investigated through a relatively unexplored sustainability perspective, focusing on the long-term environmental impacts of the disposal of construction materials. To achieve this, two main work packages will be pursued. First, a conceptual model leveraging a novel Accumulated Negative Sustainability Indicator (ANSI) has been proposed to consolidate various impact categories associated with construction and demolition waste into a single quantitative measure, facilitating the integration of long-term environmental considerations into building energy designs. Second, the project delves into incorporating climate change considerations into building energy designs, culminating in proposing a conceptual framework for dynamic climate responsiveness. Through these endeavours, the project aims to contribute significantly to establishing a more comprehensive pathway for an energy-efficient design capable of minimizing long-term environmental impacts while ensuring sustained performance, even in climate change.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Abbasi, Alireza and Lee, Chi King |
| Index terms: | construction material, photovoltaic, energy-efficient building, energy performance, renewable energy resource, humidity, implementation, energy efficiency, climate resilience, design practice, building design, boundary condition, package, solar radiation, integration, environmental impact, conceptual framework, climate change, environmental sustainability, sustainability indicator, construction and demolition, passive design, energy-efficient design |
| Subjects: | organizational analysis, sustainability and energy, building materials, energy systems, structural engineering, theoretical framing, sustainability assessment, sustainable design, health safety and environment, design process, contractual arrangements, architectural design, environmental impact, waste management, climate science |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Health and Safety, Sustainability, Procurement, Design Practice, Organizational Design, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here