Deo Karan Prasad

CEO of CRC for Low Carbon Buildings Cities and Communities, UNSW Australia · CRC Low Carbon

The circular economy and regenerative design approaches, although still emerging in the built environment, are important pathways to move away from the degenerative business-as-usual practices in the sector. In this paper, we investigate the perception, awareness, and practices of built environment professionals regarding the adoption of a combined...

Despite the increasing use of neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools (NSAT), their linear approach may be insufficient to tackle the global and local social and ecological challenges. The circular economy (CE) has recently emerged as a new pathway, adopted by corporations and public organisations. Understanding how to apply CE to existing co...

There is potential in applying the circular economy (CE) and regenerative design (RD) models for the redevelopment of urban areas as a response to the current linear and mechanistic practices that still contribute to exceeding planetary boundaries and reinforcing social inequalities. Despite these models' common roots, they are usually approached q...

Thermoelectric module (TEM) is a solid-state device which converts heat into electricity and vice-versa. TEMs are mostly used as micro-generators or micro-refrigerators for power generation and cooling applications respectively. The increase in PV module temperature, results in performance degradation of a PV power plant, thus one of the potential...

The global climate is ever changing, and climate-induced disasters are getting into a new normal. To address climate change and associated consequences, it is urgent to take actions for mitigation and adaptation. This chapter analyses the background of climate change and international frameworks for actions in terms of the Paris Agreement, UN SDGs...

Social housing stock worldwide can be characterised by poor indoor environmental quality and building thermal performance, which along with the increasing urban overheating put the low-income population at higher health risk. The dwellings’ thermal performance and the indoor environmental quality are often overlooked in the context of social housin...

Thermoelectric module (TEM) is a scalable, reliable, and noise-free solid-state device that converts thermal energy into electrical energy and vice-versa. TEM has been explored for cogeneration, electronics cooling, power production, waste heat harnessing, and air-conditioning. The potential applications of TEM-based systems are in the building, fo...

This book discusses the challenges related to climate change mitigation and adaptation. It adds valuable strategies and insights into the development of new practices solving the identified social and economic problems related to ecosystem deterioration and anticipating other disasters related to climate change. As the decarbonization of cities and...

Due to the impacts of carbon emissions on climate change and the expected dramatic increase in global cooling demand by 2050, it is of a paramount importance that the required energy to cool buildings is accurately predicted. This ensures that equipment is appropriately sized, which ultimately reduces energy consumption and global carbon emissions....

There has been considerable global attention given to a climate emergency approach to delivering net zero carbon buildings and neighbourhoods. Technologies, techniques and guidance on how to do this already exist and what changes in different climates and economic constraints is what requires good and clear communication between a designer and the...

Urban and building typologies have a serious impact on the urban climate and determine at large the magnitude of the urban overheating and urban heat island intensity. The present study aims to analyze the impact of various city typologies and urban planning characteristics on the mitigation of the urban heat island. The effect of the building heig...

Making cities sustainable and liveable is a way to counter the negative effects of these megatrends. Cities will compete globally to make their urban areas attractive to both live and to invest in, and face the challenging task of balancing between competitiveness, environment and quality of life.

There is growing consensus that to effectively respond to the urgency of the global climate emergency we require a new model of what it means to be sustainable. Regenerative development provides a compelling alternative by seeking to realign our efforts in a participatory and co-evolutionary relationship with nature to create the conditions necessa...

The consequences of the extractive and disconnected relationship with nature that has dominated past and current sustainability approaches are now being witnessed. A harmonious relationship with nature needs to be reestablished to guide how we can live, act and respond to the global climate emergency. Regenerative development has emerged as a proce...

This study investigates public participation in heat impact reduction by analysing adaptive behaviours, familiarity with urban heat island (UHI) and cooling strategies, the perceived urgency of heat impact actions and citizen’s willingness to pay through a questionnaire survey in Chongqing, China. The results indicate that air-conditioning systems...

Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) replaces building envelope materials and provides electric power generator, which has aroused great interest for those in the fields of energy conservation and building design. Double-skin façade (DSF) has attracted significant attention over the last three decades due to its bi-layer structure, which improve...

Urban overheating affects the health and wellbeing of communities, the environmental quality, and the economic performance of cities. This study demonstrates that outdoor thermal comfort can be improved in a single street by decreasing ambient (Ta) and surface (Ts) temperatures by implementing innovative and traditional heat mitigation strategies....

In recent years, Building-Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Double-Skin Façade (BIPV/T-DSF) shows great potentials on improving indoor thermal comfort and energy efficiency for buildings. Previous studies assessed both indoor thermal comfort and energy efficiency of a BIPV/T-DSF building through the use of the photovoltaic devices and ventilation typ...

Indoor thermal comfort and air quality in school classrooms are of interest worldwide, primarily because of their potential impacts on students’ health, learning performance and productivity. Further, increasing concerns with changing climate and building energy efficiency highlight the importance of ventilation and comfort in educational settings....

Cities in Australia are experiencing unprecedented levels of urban overheating, which has caused a significant impact on the country’s socioeconomic environment. This article provides a comprehensive review on urban overheating, its impact on health, energy, economy, and the heat mitigation potential of a series of strategies in Australia. Existing...

Many cities are facing the problem of urban heat island (UHI) and UHI mitigation is becoming crucial in urban planning and design. The reasonable wind-sensitive design may be a feasible approach to UHI mitigation and outdoor thermal comfort improvement, as cool wind (i.e. sea breeze) is a good cooling intervention. Consistent with the precinct vent...

Being the interface between indoor and outdoor, building envelope significantly influences indoor heating and cooling loads and thus affects building energy consumption. This paper presents the results of numerical simulation for the performance prediction of building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal double-skin facade (BIPV/T-DSF). Different BIPV m...

Wind is potential to regulate urban temperature, while the wind-induced cooling effect has not been well understood in association with built form. Therefore, this paper investigated the cooling effects of sea breeze on outdoor thermal environment with the consideration of built form in an open space of Sydney, Australia based on mobile measurement...

The reduction of urban ventilation is one of the significant causes of the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. Reasonable urban planning and design can guide cooler wind into cities, thereby mitigating UHI phenomenon. However, existing knowledge of the cooling effect of urban ventilation is mainly at the regional or city scale, while the lack of in...

This chapter sets the scene for the book which focuses on the challenge that Australia faces—as a high income and highly urbanised society whose economy is strongly rooted in fossil fuels—in transitioning to renewable energy and regenerating its cities via a transformation of its built environment. Both are necessary conditions for low carbon livin...

This report is a product of the collaborative research project ‘Validating and Improving the BASIX Assessment Tool for Low-Carbon Dwellings’. Initiated by the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the New South Wales Government, this project addresses the policy need for post-occupancy evalu...

Maintaining indoor thermal comfort is crucial for the health and productivity of building occupants. Building envelope plays a major role in influencing the impact of outdoor climate and controlling the indoor thermal conditions. In this paper, comparative analysis of indoor comfortable temperature for four different types of building-integrated ph...

This book focuses on the challenge that Australia faces in transitioning to renewable energy and regenerating its cities via a transformation of its built environment. Both are necessary conditions for low carbon living in the 21st century. This is a global challenge represented by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and the IPCC’s Cl...

Research activities previously performed on shorter simulation timeframe had shown that building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal double-skin façade (BIPV/T-DSF) could maintain a comfort temperature within a building, by adopting a fan-assisted ventilated air cavity in summer, and a non-ventilated air cavity during winter in order to reduce overheat...

Corporate sustainability demands the integration of environmental performance, social justice and economic efficiency and, into company's operational practices. Construction companies are increasingly under pressure to commit to and report on the overall sustainability performances of operational initiatives. The aim of this paper is to investigate...

Provision of adequate and affordable housing is a major challenge in both emerging and industrialised countries. With increasing urgency for addressing climate change and other environmental issues these habitats will need to be environmentally sustainable too. Conventional construction, especially in dense urban centres and in rural or remote area...

Current building retrofits are predominantly focused on energy and cost efficiency at an individual building or building component scale. Whilst the aspirations of these retrofits are crucial to the sustainable development of our built environment, we can and need to do better. Many argue that we need a shift in worldview from mechanistic to regene...

Buildings are major consumers of energy for heating and cooling. The number of buildings is growing rapidly with demand for energy. To reduce consumption, governments worldwide have implemented codes, standards, and building practices. In New South Wales, Australia the planning department introduced a web-based energy-modelling tool intended to inc...

The elderly are particularly vulnerable to heatwaves and this research investigates the degree of thermal stress they experience and identifies a suitable index, using Thailand as the case study location. Several global heat stress indices were evaluated for their ability to predict thermal stress in the tropics: Universal Thermal Climate Index (UT...

Sustainability assessment tools aim to promote high sustainability outcomes in residential buildings, ensuring less consumption of water, energy and less emission of greenhouse gases. However, existing literature often presents variations between the estimated outcomes from the assessment tools and actual outcomes after building occupation. Researc...

Both electrical power and useful thermal energy can be obtained from building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal systems (BIPV/T) which have the potential to reduce the energy consumption of buildings. Double-skin façades (DSF) have been implemented for enhancing energy efficiency as well as improving indoor thermal comfort. This paper explored the pe...

Australian residential sector contributes approximately 13 per cent of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The New South Wales (NSW) government in Australia has introduced mandatory energy efficiency/ GHG emissions reduction target through the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) assessment tool, which estimates the operational energy consum...

It has become increasingly important to study the urban heat island phenomenon due to the adverse effects on summertime cooling energy demand, air and water quality and most importantly, heat-related illness and mortality. The present article analyses the magnitude and the characteristics of the urban heat island in Sydney, Australia. Climatic data...

The elderly have a slower metabolism than the young, which affects their thermal perceptions and comfort, particularly in hot-humid climates. Understanding these differences is important to identify the thermal comfort levels of the elderly. The available data from Thailand is insufficient, so we analyzed the literature for a proxy to estimate the...

Local and global climate change increases the ambient temperature of cities by several degrees with important consequences on energy consumption, health and the economy. Advanced urban mitigation technologies contribute to decrease the ambient temperature and counterbalance the impact of urban heat islands. The present paper analyses and presents i...

Provision of adequate and affordable housing is a major challenge in both emerging and industrialised countries. With increasing urgency for addressing climate change and other environmental issues these habitats will need to be environmentally sustainable too. Conventional construction, especially in dense urban centres and in rural or remote area...

Defining thermal comfort in the elderly, particularly in the hot-humid climate zone, is an increasingly important issue. This paper is specifically aimed at identifying the gap in information on elderly perceptions of thermal comfort available in the existing literature. Research shows a 2–3°C rise in temperature can increase risk of morbidity and...

This paper addresses the issue of awareness of Green buildings, Green lifestyle and environmental matters with the aim to depict if GM (Green Mark) rating tool operates in a consumer climate that is knowledgeable. The post-occupancy evaluation of 11 office buildings in Singapore documented a range of performance indicators but also included questio...

The need for affordable housing is a growing issue requiring sincere and urgent attention globally. With increasing focus on climate change and other environmental issues our housing must be environmentally sustainable too. We also need housing in remote areas where conventional construction is both cost and resource inefficient. Prefabrication off...

The challenges of heat-related mortality and morbidity call for research on the need for policy in tropical countries. This paper discusses gaps between current international policies concerning thermal-related issues in health and housing for the elderly. An extensive literature review addresses problem definition, determination of the policy impl...

This paper aims to explore the various building assessment systems in Malaysia; how do they work to define sustainability, how far the achievement is and what barriers are involved. The intent is to initiate a critical comparison among the approaches taken by different authorities and to see how far a ‘life cycle’ based assessment can be adopted fo...

This paper reviews the global sustainable building rating certifications, including evaluation of the 'life cycle' approaches in each system. With the rising demand to achieve " green " building and cities, the life cycle concept becomes more significant, with the result that some criteria in qualitative tools can be investigated quantitatively. We...

This research attempts to support the vision of UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiatives [1] in order to strengthen more life cycle applications by not only looking into environmental LCA, but also combining the socio- economic factors. For example, with more Life Cycle Sustainability Assessments (LCSA), it could overcome the ‘trade-off errors’ in sustain...

One of the important reasons for the interest in green buildings is that the employees can benefit from healthy and productive work environments. This research aims to provide evidence that can affect design decisions by a literature review and an occupant survey. Three important design decisions (green certifications, ventilation types and office...

Natural ventilation performance can be influenced by various factors, including facade treatments such as balconies. Balconies have been commonly incorporated into residential buildings for various purposes, yet the provision of a balcony as a passive design strategy to improve natural ventilation is not one of its common purposes. The objective of...

Source: http://unep-iesd.tongji.edu.cn/index.php?classid=933&action=download&id=606

The objective of this study is to investigate the accuracy of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for simultaneously predicting the outdoor and indoor airflows of single-cell and multi-storey buildings. Empirical models and two existing wind tunnel experimental data are used for validation. This study found that coupled CFD simulations provide suffi...

This study is to assess developers' market readiness to green construction including their ideas on green construction, their understanding of current green building policies, their awareness and familiarity with green building and related industries, and the barriers they are facing for implementing green building projects. By eleven face-to-face...

Tourism is one of Malaysia’s major sources of income and continues to grow both in scale and scope. Concerning scale, the country recorded 23 millions arrivals in 2011 and contributes to RM58 billion (USD 18.8 billion) in tourism receipts. The strong and significant rise of tourism development over the past few decades is one of the most remarkable...

Background: Revised case definitions of dengue into dengue with/without warning signs (DWS/D) and severe dengue (SD) was proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO)/Tropical Disease Research (TDR) in 2009. To date, there has been no Indian study that has applied this classification. Aims and objectives: To assess the accuracy and applicabili...

This paper examines the local community empowerment initiatives of selected resorts in Malaysia to get an insight of the different local community support practices implemented. This research also considers ways in which we may better understand how tourism facility development impacts on the lives of people living in and around the resort environm...

The objective of this Toolkit is to inspire, encourage and support universities to develop and implement their own transformative strategies for establishing green, resource-efficient and low carbon campuses. It will provide an opportunity to build stakeholder capacity to deliver systemic, institution-wide integration of sustainability principles i...

This paper shows the results of a research on parametric geometric transformation of the building volume and transformations of façade surfaces to optimize solar access of buildings in an existing urban district. Photovoltaic systems are generally installed on roof tops of buildings located in low density areas due to the availability of horizontal...

Tourist arrivals in Malaysia for 2002-2010 showed consistent growth, and currently about 24 million visitors are expected each year to visit Malaysia and join the resident population to enjoy the beauty and natural resources. According to the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, the number of visitors that support environmentally and socially responsible...

Fanger's predicted mean vote (PMV) model of thermal comfort perception is criticised for the consistency of its results with the actual mean vote (AMV). This is mainly because Fanger"s PMV model assumes some particular circumstances that hardly ever occur in real world experience, such as the similarity of personal variables and other psychological...

Green building assessments are part of the globally accepted climate change mitigation method. The Green Building Index for Residential New Construction (GBI-RNC) from Malaysia belongs to a cohort of similar assessment schemes that evaluate various types of buildings throughout the world. There are similarities between GBI-RNC and other schemes suc...

This article reports a new application of material and energy accounting techniques to characterize and quantify the relationships between material input (and the related energy flows and emissions) and the services provided (i.e., material input per service unit [MIPS]) at the neighborhood level. The case study focuses on China's small residential...

Over the past decade, the Malaysian tourism industry has been developing and working towards a more sustainable architecture and development. The tourism industry in Malaysia ranks 9th in the international tourism market and tourism associated activities are expected to escalate to yield profits of RM33.6 billion in by year 2015. The Government of...

The work presented in this paper aims to compare two different climates in Australia and Reunion Island and to identify the similarities in terms of bioclimatic design of low energy building. This approach is to perform a real evaluation of the sensation of thermal comfort in the workplace for different climates on the basis of the "bioclimatic cha...

Whereas current building related life cycle energy and carbon assessment in China has typically focused on either the national building stock or the single building level, this paper attempts to evaluate life cycle energy consumption and carbon emissions at the level of Chinese residential small district (RSD). This paper discusses a case study of...

Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world and a major source of income in many developing countries. Conversely the damage caused by tourism development not only has negative implications for a national economy but can threaten the livelihoods of many in the locality, and also the natural environment. As with other s...