Solutions to Climate Change Challenges in the Built Environment
Abstract
The multi-disciplinary perspective provided here offers a strategic view on built environment issues and improve understanding of how built environment activities potentially induce global warming and climate change. It also highlights solutions to these challenges. Solutions to Climate change Challenges in the Built Environment helps develop an appreciation of the diverse themes of the climate change debate across the built environment continuum. A wide perspective is provided through contributions from physical, environmental, social, economic and political scientists. This strategic view on built environment issues will be useful to researchers as well as policy experts and construction practitioners wanting a holistic view. This book clarifies complex issues around climate change and follows five main themes: climate change experiences; urban landscape development; urban management issues; measurement of impact; and the future. Chapters are written by eminent specialists from both academic and professional backgrounds. The main context for chapters is the developed world but the discussion is widened to incorporate regional issues. The book will be valuable to researchers and students in all the built environment disciplines, as well as to practitioners involved with the design, construction and maintenance of buildings, and government organisations developing and implementing climate change policy.
... Всеки ден той е натоварен с 2,14 млн. пътници (Booth et al., 2011) или повече от общия брой население на града. Всичко това допринася за "оздравяването на града" и намалено количество парникови газове. ...
... Трансформацията, която претърпява градът започва през 90-те години на ХХ в. През 1970 г. на 1 жител са се падали 1 m 2 зелено пространство, а през 2010 г. -52 m 2(Booth et al., 2011). Интегрираното градско планиране и стратегията за ефективно използване на урбанизираните пространства се проявяват в транспорта, жилищната политика, а оттам оказват влияние върху качеството на живот на хората. ...
Abstract: The "Green cities" concept was introduced at the end of the 20th century. It is a result of the historical development of the society especially in the period after the World War II which was characterized by rapid and often uncontrollable urban development. This process led to the creation of large and scattered cities, unlike cities in the 19th century. Our Common Future advo-cates for combination of economic growth, environmental protection and social development. The later concept of "New Urbanism Movement" also presents the higher benefits of limiting urban development in spatial terms through the use of environmentally friendly urban practices.
With the development of the concept of sustainable development in the 1990s, the opportunity for the development of the concepts of sustainable cities, green cities and vibrant cities has in-creased. This paper examines five different cities with their characteristics and contemporary “green” policies.
Keywords: Green City, Urban Development, New Urbanism Movement, Sustainable Development
... Climate change has been a huge challenge to the world and many efforts have bee made to remedy the situation by ensuring a more sustainable way of production esp cially in the construction sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions [88]. Cement and lim are mostly used in subgrade stabilisation. ...
... Climate change has been a huge challenge to the world and many efforts have been made to remedy the situation by ensuring a more sustainable way of production especially in the construction sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions [88]. Cement and lime are mostly used in subgrade stabilisation. ...
Subgrade materials refer to the original ground underneath a road pavement, when these
materials are made up of expansive soil it is referred to as expansive subgrade. Sometimes, these materials do not have sufficient capacity to support the weight of the road pavement and traffic load, which means they require some form of modification and re-engineering to enhance their load capacity. Chemical modification techniques using traditional stabilisers (such as cement and lime) have proved to be an effective means of subgrade stabilisation. However, high costs and environmental concerns associated with the use and production of these additives have highlighted the need for more sustainable and environmentally friendly substitutes. This study reviews the use of industrial by-products and other waste materials used for subgrade stabilisation, focusing on the sustainability of using processed wastes and how they alter the engineering properties of
weak subgrade, compared to the use of cement and also reviews the availability of processed waste materials in quantities sufficient to meet the current demand for subgrade stabilisation. The findings illustrate that, processed waste is less expensive and has better sustainability credentials compared to cement. Moreover, processed wastes are available in sufficient quantities to meet existing demands for subgrade stabilisation. Therefore, it is recommended that the use of processed wastes should be promoted and utilised to improve and enhance the geotechnical properties of weak subgrade materials where possible.
... Organisation can increase the sustainability of both the construction process and its resultant assets via sustainable technologies, processes and innovations which includes lean principles (Tan et al., 2011;Booth et al., 2012;Liang et al., 2014;Salifu-Asubay and Mensah, 2015). ...
... Not likely in developed countries, there is no proper organisational or institutional procedure for green supply chain, in Sri Lanka, where materials and equipment are supplied in a green manner (Vanegas et al., 1996). As sustainability is a key concept in the world, Booth et al. (2012) stated that the contracting organisations have increased their organisational capacity in terms of technologies, processes and innovations towards sustainable construction by identifying their vital responsibility. Anyhow contracting organisations in Sri Lanka, rarely follow when only client's demand. ...
... The interviews were conducted using interview guidelines and were tape-recorded (with permission of interviewees) to secure an accurate account of conversations and avoid loss of data. Semi-structured interviews enabled sufficient flexibility to approach different respondents, covering same areas of data collection, Sustainable construction practices Principles Sustainable legal framework and enforcement Organisation requires to comply with the legal framework of the country which leads to sustainable construction, including environmental and social responsibility, to improve economic advancement (Pitt et al., 2009;Tan et al., 2011) Sustainable construction standards, guidelines or policies Organisation shall has its own sustainable standards, guidelines or policies to minimise environmental, economic and social risks associated with construction practices (Krigsvoll et al., 2010) Sustainable designs Organisation needs improve a project's whole life value through green design and ensure buildability with efficient use of resources, sustainable materials, minimum wastage, resilient, adaptable and attractive (Tan et al., 2011;Gharzeldeena and Beheiry, 2015) Sustainable procurement Organisation shall promote green supply chain throughout a project's life cycle to ensure sustainability (Tan et al., 2011;Shaharudin and Ismail, 2015) Sustainable technologies, processes and innovations Organisation shall increase sustainability of both construction processes and its resultant assets via sustainable technologies, processes and innovations which includes lean principles (Tan et al., 2011;Booth et al., 2012;Liang et al., 2014) People and organisational structure Organisation shall arrange its and project structure to facilitate implementation of sustainable policy and strategy while an increase in organisations' awareness and commitment to sustainable construction (Tan et al., 2011;Liang et al., 2014) Sustainable education and training Organisation upturns its commitment to sustainable construction through better education and training of every staff in the organisation or project (Tan et al., 2011;Liang et al., 2014) ...
... Thus, contractor organisations have a responsibility to increase organisational capacity in technologies, processes and innovation to achieve sustainable construction. Thus, environment friendly recycling or demolishing procedures and new technologies and innovative materials pave way for new designs and methods of construction (Booth et al., 2012). ...
Purpose
Sustainability in construction is a challenging responsibility to contractors due to diminishing natural resources and increasing energy costs. This paper aims to identify key issues that affect adaptation of sustainable construction practices by Sri Lankan contractor organisations and propose a framework for successful adaptation.
Design/methodology/approach
Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted from three selected case studies to gather data on sustainable construction practices and related issues in contracting organisations in Sri Lanka. Proposed framework was validated and enhanced by interviews conducted with seven industry experts in Sri Lanka and the Persian Gulf region. Cross-case with code based content analysis was used to analyse data.
Findings
Gaps in legal framework and weak enforcement of prevailing rules, less institutional intervention, less commitment of people especially key stakeholders, wrong perceptions on capital costs, low levels of education and experience on sustainable construction were identified as key issues, similar to the Persian Gulf region. Proposed framework presents suggestions for successful adaptation of sustainable construction practices in eight key areas: legal framework, standards, guidelines or policies, design, procurement, technology, processes and innovations, people and organisational structure, education and training, measurements and reporting.
Research limitations/implications
Research was limited to data gathered from C1 category construction contractors in Sri Lanka and similar category in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of the Persian Gulf region.
Originality/value
Framework for enhancement of sustainable construction practices via contracting organisations is proposed as an inaugural step to establishing a country based and industry specific model to achieve sustainability in the Sri Lankan construction industry.
... The advantages of VGS are: a) reducing thermal heat (Yeang, 2006;Barrio, 1998;Bodart & Evrard, 2011); b) reducing the effect of urban heat islands (Landsberg, 1981;Banting & Missios, 2005;Dam, Walke, & Wilson, 2000), c) aesthetic improvement of a building (Blanc, 2008;Beriatos & Brebbia, 2011); d) increasing indoor air quality (Wong, 2008;Blanc, 2008;Uffelen, 2011); e) reducing energy usage (Booth et al., 2012;Wong, 2008;Holewa, 2012;Booth et al., 2012); and f) reducing sound pollution (Dunnet & Kingsbury, 2004;Durr, 1995;North American Wetland Engineering, 1998). ...
... The advantages of VGS are: a) reducing thermal heat (Yeang, 2006;Barrio, 1998;Bodart & Evrard, 2011); b) reducing the effect of urban heat islands (Landsberg, 1981;Banting & Missios, 2005;Dam, Walke, & Wilson, 2000), c) aesthetic improvement of a building (Blanc, 2008;Beriatos & Brebbia, 2011); d) increasing indoor air quality (Wong, 2008;Blanc, 2008;Uffelen, 2011); e) reducing energy usage (Booth et al., 2012;Wong, 2008;Holewa, 2012;Booth et al., 2012); and f) reducing sound pollution (Dunnet & Kingsbury, 2004;Durr, 1995;North American Wetland Engineering, 1998). ...
Numerous researchers proved Vertical Greenery System VGS beneficial to buildings and surroundings. However, it is still not widely applied in the tropics like Malaysia. This paper aims to determine the perceptions of VGS among the end users before it can be improved. A survey was conducted among 40 respondents, the end users of VGS in selected buildings within Klang Valley area. The collected data was analysed using statistical tests. From the findings, the primary benefits of VGS perceived by end users are enhancing visual quality, bringing nature harmony, reducing stress and reducing the urban heat island effects. The perceptions contradict with the results of ANOVA test between reducing the urban heat island effects and other VGS benefits that proves the need and effort to work on VGS in Malaysia.
... After extensive research, it was possible to find data from the World Bank portal regarding climate change. The data are for average annual temperatures, average highest annual temperatures, average lowest temperatures and precipitation from analyses carried out for the years 1901-2021 according to [5][6][7]. The above data concern the wider area of each facility and not the local climate data (microclimate) which were very difficult to collect. ...
... Not only the workforce but also relevant CSC actors such as suppliers and subcontractors need to partake in training programs on sustainable construction (Athapaththu & Karunasena, 2018). Further, enterprises can reach a higher sustainability level for construction processes through the innovation of sustainable technologies employed for process improvement (Booth et al., 2012;Liang et al., 2014;Tan et al., 2011). Construction firms are acutely conscious of the importance of such technologies and have used them to reduce wastage, recycle materials, preserve water and energy, conserve biodiversity, and sustain cost-effectiveness (Athapaththu & Karunasena, 2018;Tan et al., 2011). ...
To contend with the current economic conditions,
construction managers are recommended to identify sustainable
construction supply chain management (CSCM) trends
over the forthcoming years and adopt suitable techniques to
manage construction projects strategically, tactically, and operationally.
However, there is a shortage of studies exploring Lean
Construction (LC) practices’ contributions to sustainable
CSCM trends in the forthcoming years. Thus, this paper applies
the integrated fuzzy AHP–Delphi approach to identify key
sustainable CSCM trends and uses them as strategic evaluation
criteria to assess and rank LC techniques. The evaluation was
done by 28 experts having more than four years’ experience and
expertise in lean construction and sustainable CSCM. This
work also provides managerial implications by proposing a
framework for LC techniques to advance sustainability
throughout construction project phases.
... Les bienfaits de la végétation sont aussi environnementaux et écologiques : elle réduit les risques d'inondations, favorise la biodiversité et atténue l'impact des évènements de chaleur extrême dans la rue et à l'intérieur des bâtiments (Misni, 2012). Elle améliore la qualité de l'air et la qualité sonore (Booth et al., 2011). ...
Les îlots de chaleur et la pollution atmosphérique sont des phénomènes importants dans les zones urbaines. Ils se traduisent respectivement par une exacerbation de la température nocturne estivale et des concentrations en polluants de l’air. Nous nous sommes intéressés à l’ozone atmosphérique, dont la concentration augmente en ville en conditions anticycloniques. Des solutions pour les atténuer ont été identifiées, comme la végétalisation des surfaces urbaines grâce à son effet d’ombrage, son évapotranspiration et sa dépollution de l’air. Un défi actuel de la communauté scientifique est de quantifier le bénéfice apporté par la végétation urbaine. Ceci passe par le développement d’un outil permettant de décrire l’interconnexion entre le microclimat, l’ozone et la végétation dans la rue ce qui a été le but de cette thèse. Pour cela, le couplage de deux modèles a été réalisé : le modèle de microclimat urbain Town Energy Balance (TEB) et le modèle de transferts sol-végétation-atmosphère Surfatm. L’originalité du travail scientifique proposé est d’avoir inclus le dépôt sec de l’ozone sur toutes les surfaces. Le modèle couplé a été évalué avec des données mesurées sur un site à Strasbourg (France) sur les flux de chaleur. Il est ensuite montré que les flux d’ozone sur la végétation sont plus importants que ceux sur les autres surfaces mais la présence de végétation a un impact assez faible sur l’ozone de l’air avec une élimination de 5.9%. Ce flux varie en fonction du stade de développement et du type de végétation : pour optimiser la dépollution de l’ozone dans la rue, il est préférable de choisir une végétation haute et dense.
... Since the earth's climate is caused by the earth's surface temperature (Lindsey, 2009), global warming is the primary cause of the change in global climate. For this purpose, these two concepts cannot be separated in any context; the things affecting global warming also affect climate change (Booth et al, 2012). As a result of these disasters, whole or specific parts of society suffer economic, social and physical casualties, and human activities and daily life come to a halt or are disrupted. ...
... Environmental problems that are related to climate change remain the core urban challenge (IPCC, 2014). The reduction of green areas in cities is a contributing factor to the climate change phenomena because there is less area available to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (Booth CA, Hammond FN, Lamond J, Proverbs DG, 2012). Green space is not limited to sites for roof greenery. ...
Climate change is a threat to the world. Problems resulting from climate
change such as global warming, floods, environmental pollution, high carbon
dioxide emissions, and loss of biodiversity may be solved by the
implementation of green roofs. Green roof benefits the environment, economy,
aesthetics, and recreation, and proven through studies conducted
from around the world. This paper reviews the existing literature on green roof
benefits and performance and specifically focuses on their potential to address
climate change issues. A review of significant literature on green roof
performance and benefits is the method of this study. From the review, it is
proven that green roofs have the potential to reduce problems related to climate
change. The depth of a green roof substrate is a key factor that can optimize
potential benefits. Thus, intensive types of green roofs provide a significant
contribution towards reducing storm water runoff; mitigate the urban heat
island effect and pollution; increased biodiversity; and carbon sequestration.
Local research is highly encouraged in mitigating climate change because the
optimal performance of green roofs is subject to local climate and conditions.
... A transportation infrastructure system plays a pivotal role in the economic development of a country. Transportation systems are perceived as one of the leading sectors in stimulating worldwide sustainability primarily because transportation projects are directly related to various disciplines; furthermore, transportation systems have a long-lasting effect that accounts for a large amount of CO 2 emissions (Booth, Hammond, Lamond, & Proverbs, 2012). Roadway transportation accounts for 90% to 95% of the transport sector's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world (Deng, 2011). ...
A sustainable transportation infrastructure rating system (STIRS) generally encompasses a wide range of indicators for the comprehensive evaluation of the sustainability of transportation projects. Appropriate traffic and transportation planning solutions may increase the performance of transportation projects. However, no investigation has been conducted to assess the significance of traffic-and-transportation-planning-related indicators (TTPIs) in STIRSs. This study first identified the five most up-to-date rating systems from 12 existing STIRSs. TTPIs were extracted from different categories of the five STIRSs, and similar feature indicators were regrouped into different traffic-and-transportation-planning-related features (TTPFs). The comparative analysis approach was adopted to investigate the priority and significance of TTPFs and TTPIs in the selected rating systems. The findings revealed that among the selected rating systems, Green Guides for Roads allocates the highest percentage of total points (37%) to TTPIs, whereas the Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool allocates the lowest percentage of total points (20.9%) to TTPIs. With respect to the TTPFs of transportation projects, pedestrian paths and sidewalks, bicycle facilities, and traffic facilities are believed to contribute considerably to project sustainability, whereas freight traffic, parking spaces, and project consistency are believed to make relatively low contributions to project sustainability.
... Climate change is a phenomenon that challenges today's world. The effects associated with climate change are global warming, rise of sea levels, hurricanes, droughts, loss of biodiversity, heat waves and floods have become a worldwide threat (Booth et al., 2012). Malaysia is a developing country that contributes to high carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, which amounted to 220.40 million tons in 2015 (International Energy Agency, 2015). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to assess factors that affect carbon sequestration on green roofs.
Design/methodology/approach
The most current academic literature related to carbon sequestration and green roofs carbon sequestration performance was reviewed.
Findings
Factors affecting carbon sequestration were discussed and classified into the following factors: plants, physical and maintenance factors. The authors’ findings are significant because they can be used to optimize green roofs performance for carbon sequestration.
Originality/value
Factors affecting carbon sequestration will optimize intensive green roofs performance.
... Environmental problems that are related to climate change remain the core urban challenge (IPCC, 2014). The reduction of green areas in cities is a contributing factor to the climate change phenomena because there is less area available to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (Booth CA, Hammond FN, Lamond J, Proverbs DG, 2012). Green space is not limited to sites for roof greenery. ...
Climate change is a threat to the world. Problems resulting from climate change such as global warming, floods, environmental pollution, high carbon dioxide emissions, and loss of biodiversity may be solved by the implementation of green roofs. Green roof benefits the environment, economy, aesthetics, and recreation and are proven effective through studies conducted from around the world. This paper reviews the existing literature on green roof benefits and performance and specifically focuses on their potential to address climate change issues. A review of significant literature on green roof performance and benefits is the method of this study. From the review, it is proven that green roofs have the potential to reduce problems related to climate change. The depth of a green roof substrate is a key factor that can optimize potential benefits. Thus, intensive types of green roofs provide significant contribution towards reducing storm water runoff; mitigate the urban heat island effect and pollution; increased biodiversity; and carbon sequestration. Local research is highly encouraged in mitigating climate change because the optimal performance of green roofs is subject to local climate and conditions.
... Aksorn and Charoenngam grouped sustainability factors affecting local infrastructure projects into 6 dimensions: management and administration, information and knowledge, policy and plan, environmental and natural resources, facility and infrastructure, and finance and budget [12]. Booth et al. [13] and Black [14] defined the sustainable transportation system as encouraging recycling in its construction and minimizes and the use of land, minimizing the use of nonrenewable resources and reducing emissions and waste, allowing the basic access needs of individuals to be met safely while ensuring the health of people and the ecosystem, supporting a strong economy and facilitating equality between and within generations. In this paper, the definition of infrastructure sustainability is focused on assured compliance with conventional infrastructure sustainability specification in sustainability rating systems rather than proactive improvement of all sustainability factors. ...
BIM (building information modeling) can be the basis for carrying out various performance analyses. Sustainable infrastructure rating systems are suitable tools for assessing an infrastructure’s environmental performance. It is necessary to integrate them in the design process. The research adopted a thorough literature review to follow the development trends, interviews with professionals from the academia and industry, and a critical analysis of technical requirements for integrating BIM tools and infrastructure sustainability rating systems in the design process. This study propagates a conceptual framework for integrating sustainability rating systems by introducing BIM with a sustainability metric plug-in. The adoption of the proposed solution allows for what-if scenarios to better support the incorporation of sustainability into design decisions and the assessment of sustainability at the design phase of the infrastructure project. The framework is used to refine designs and ensure that sustainable goals are met and to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements. This paper concludes that greater emphasis should be placed on supporting technical requirements to facilitate the integration of BIM and sustainability rating systems. It defines the possibility of BIM adoption to influence the sustainable project performance in the infrastructure. This framework could streamline the sustainable design process and lead to more integrated infrastructure delivery.
... The Macquarie Dictionary defines, 'a significant change in the usual climatic conditions persisting for an extended period, especially those thought to be caused by global warming'. Booth et al. (2011) argue that cities' contribution to global climate change has been attributed to the burning of fossil fuels to supplement high levels of energy consumption to support large populations and economic growth. The built environment contributes to rises in temperature through an urban heat island effect and reduction in the available green areas or open spaces. ...
Human and environmental well-being is the main goal of sustainable development. Quality of Life (QoL) which is often used to measure human well-being, constitutes existential factors, but excludes attributes of people and local environment. In the absence of people’s perception towards the environment and satisfaction associated with environmental features, QoL remains an incomplete expression of human well-being. This study includes attributes of people and environment and has defined a new QoL metric – environmental QoL (QoLe) – to measure progress towards sustainability at neighbourhood scale.
The QoLe model includes environmental attributes, perceived neighbourhood satisfaction and environmental attitudes of people, and explores the relationships between them. The testing of the model involved field work in an ecologically sustainable development (ESD) and a conventional neighbourhood from south-east Queensland, Australia. In the ESD, protection and enhancement of the natural environment was emphasised and the built environment is designed to be environment friendly and sustainable. Majority of the residents demonstrated a Preservation (pro environmental) attitude and expressed an overall high level of satisfaction with their neighbourhood. The conventional neighbourhood lacked sustainable planning and design features. Majority of the residents demonstrated a Utilisation (pro-utilitarian) attitude and they were relatively less satisfied with their neighbourhood environment quality.
The QoLe allows exploration of congruity/ incongruity between neighbourhood environmental quality and the level of satisfaction associated with them. It will provide policy planners, developers and designers with an understanding of the conflicting interests between the neighbourhood environment quality and individuals’ expectations based on their environmental attitudes. The study highlights that environmental and human well-being requires people-environment congruity.
... Climate change is causing an array of challenges for the built environment and is the focus of national and international attention [6]. The UK was the first nation to have a legally binding framework [7] to cut carbon emissions, with a 2050 target of an 80% reduction from the 1990 baseline [8]. ...
Retrofitting options to improve the thermal efficiency of external walls of
domestic buildings are presented for three types of properties built in the UK.
Case study one is a semi-detached, two-storey building, built ca. 60 years ago,
with a brick outer skin, a hollow cavity and a block work inner skin; case study
two is a mid-terraced, two-storey building built ca. 120 years ago, with a solid
stone wall and render; and case study three is a semi-detached, two-storey
building, built ca. 60 years ago, with a reinforced pre-cast concrete outer skin, a
cavity and a block work inner skin. The most appropriate retrofitting options
considered were: (i) installing cavity insulation; (ii) attaching internal wall
insulation; and (iii) mounting external wall insulation, respectively. In each case
study the retrofitting options demonstrate notable improvements can be made in
the thermal performance of the buildings. Moreover, all retrofit approaches
provide sizeable energy cost savings per annum, with case study three providing
the largest savings and case study one proffering the shortest payback period.
Cavity wall insulation emerged as most beneficial retrofit option, in regards to
capital cost, quickest payback period and minimal disruption in the installation
process. However, homeowner motivation to instigate retrofit options is
acknowledged as a significant barrier and, when married with the associated
disruption and inconvenience of implementing home improvements, it is viewed
as a massive hurdle requiring research attention.
Keywords: building thermal performance, housing, insulation, energy saving,
payback period.
... Thailand (2011), Pakistan (2010), UK (2007) and the USA (2005), amongst many others). Effects of climate change on the built environment [2], coupled ...
Community-level flood protection cannot guarantee property owners are free
from flood risk, hence, it is the responsibility of property owners themselves to
take appropriate action to ensure their properties are suitably protected by flood
resistant and/or flood resilient measures. There are many flood products and
avenues available for property owners to choose. This article introduces and
describes the new Dado Wallboard property-level flood resilient product. It
offers several practical advantages over existing internal building designs and
fabrics, namely: (i) it is made from waterproof material and, as such, does not
need to be replaced when a building has been flooded; (ii) it is mechanically
fixed to the building wall substructure so that it remains in place when immersed
in floodwater; and (iii) a movable dado rail and movable skirting board allow
access into the cavity formed between the dado board and wall substructure and
this allows both sides of a wall to be dried simultaneously. The product also
offers socio-economic benefits, namely: (i) it reduces post-flood building
reinstatement costs because fabric replacement is not necessary; and (ii) the wall
drying procedure may reduce the overall time buildings are unoccupied.
Keywords: property adaptation, flood resistance and resilience, patent product.
... The global scientific community has pointed repeatedly to the dual phenomena of urbanization and climate change as amongst the most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges of our time [40,41]. Yet, mitigation and adaptation are complex issues, because they require synergies between many diverse fields of research and action [42]. ...
... Urbanisation will grow with climate change resulting in substandard housing due to illegal building work (without building plans) and overcrowding. [16] Buildings contribute to climate change, influence transportation and affect health through the materials utilized, decisions about sites, electricity and water usage and landscape surroundings. [17] Further, extreme weather events can cause structural damage to buildings therefore compromising lighting, ventilation and encouraging dampness. ...
Climate change can be seen as a threat to sustainable development by undermining global poverty alleviation efforts and seriously impacting on successfully achieving the outcomes as envisaged by the Millennium Development Goals. There also exists severe implications for food security, clean water, environmental health and human settlements as the potential impacts of climate change bears much significance especially for the sustainable development of developing countries, such as South Africa. Therefore the role of the Environmental Health sector which is a key component in the protection of public health in South Africa, needs re-addressing as regards the potential impacts of climate change on Environmental Health Services. These potential impacts necessitates forward thinking on what adaptation measures should be considered by this sector, staffed primarily by Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs), and how can these then be implemented proactively – given that in the South African context, EHPs have a Government regulated scope of practice that covers fourteen key job functions. Therefore, this article for each key job function, considers potential impacts of climate change followed by a discussion of possible solutions and challenges. However, despite adequate awareness on climate change and its impacts, it is evident that there are many challenges, inclusive of immense financial, technical and human resource constraints, still ahead. Therefore, a systematic approach by EHPs to assess, prevent and control climate change impacts and other interacting public health issues is vital and will be crucial to protect the health of affected populations in the future.
The paper explores, through a review of literature, the complexities associated with the increasing need of taking an agile approach to leadership in managing projects. The paper aims to explore the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) required by project leaders to adopt an agile approach to leading their project teams. Project leadership in itself is complex given the wide range of activities it involves. In addition, agile is increasingly becoming a need in leadership style let alone to be used as a methodology to manage projects. The goal is to explore a modern approach to leadership formation when applying agile methodology from the point of view of leading project teams. A systematic literature review has been conducted on literature available from the last five years (2017-2022) to capture the complexities associated with agile leadership. Alongside the complexities, the knowledge, skills, and attributes required by a project leader implementing an agile approach to their leadership style have been studied. As a result, an effort to create a development approach to agile leadership has been derived based on KSA for existing project leaders who might be willing to adopt this new leadership style. The results of this research will aid project leaders to gain a strong understanding of changing landscape and provide an avenue to better support, guide, and coach their project teams with agility. The results will also inform future; leadership preparation courses in order to train new and upcoming leaders in the field of project management.
Online services that bring together those who want to take part in volunteering projects and volunteering opportunities are called volunteer match platforms. To increase volunteer engagement these platforms need to reach more people. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the expectations of users from these platforms and design and manage the platforms accordingly. This study aims to examine the main aspects impacting the engagement of volunteers in volunteer match platforms. For this purpose, 8 potential users of a newly established volunteer match platform in Turkey, Köprü Project, were interviewed. As a result of the study, it was found that the most important aspects of volunteer match platforms for potential users are gaining trust both for the projects and the platform, providing social media links of the projects on the platform, and regularly communicating with its users.
The public transport system is essential for any community to develop socio-economic growth. Performance indicators are the indication tools that determine where the defects are. As a result, the greater Amman municipality GAM has addressed this issue by launching a new transport system called the “Amman Bus Rapid Transit” BRT system that serves the public. Therefore, this paper investigates the sustainability performance indicators with respect to the economic, environmental, and social dimensions that measure the Amman BRT system. The literature review was the first tool used to generate indicators followed by commencing semi-structured interviews with five experts in the field. The findings indicated that there are 13 indicators that can be used to measure the sustainability performance of the Amman BRT system. Moreover, the results showed that the overall indicators are significant, but the most important one is affordability within the economic dimension. The current study recommended extending the methodology to use different multi-criteria decision-making techniques.
The current life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology used in structural engineering does not consider hazards like fires within its scope. Various efforts have been made to identify research gaps that need to be filled in order to accomplish a Fire-LCA. This study presented research gaps from literature to experts to determine the research gap's impact, desirability, and probability of occurrence by the year 2030. The study provides insight into what researchers should prioritize to accomplish the proposed Fire-LCA methodology. In each round the experts were asked to evaluate and comment on the impact, desirability, and probability of occurrence by the year 2030 of each identified research gap. The results of the Delphi questionnaire identified high priority research gaps for the implementation of the proposed Fire-LCA methodology. The most prioritized research gap was statistical data that would describe the number and severity of fires, fire origin, and extent of fire spread in different types of building. The results of this study can guide researchers and funding agencies to prioritize research that will fill key gaps in knowledge that prevent the implementation of a Fire-LCA methodology for building structures.
Critical social thinking has traditions as critical social science and critical social theo-ry. Does this tradition affect geography too? Even after political changes at the eve of 21st centu-ry? Two central issues will be discussed in this contribution: Critical social theory and critical geography. Critical social theory is an European invention and tradition of social and political thinking dealing mainly with critical reflection of modern society started with Frankfurt school of sociology. It had and still has strong influence on social sciences, incl. geography.
Climate change is affecting communities and environments across the world. If immediate, concerted effort is not made to reduce levels of greenhouse gas emissions, the effects could be catastrophic. Urban areas are the primary contributors of greenhouse gases, yet they are also likely to be most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The need to adapt is extremely important. Urban planners have a unique responsibility in shaping the built environment and as such create solutions to the climate change challenge. A lack of integration of climate change knowledge and planning has been highlighted by academics and global policy makers, and the sufficiency of climate change-related teaching in planning education has been questioned. This paper evaluates the prevalence of climate change-related teaching in urban planning courses in universities across the UK. Topic by topic analysis is carried out to highlight key teaching gaps. It is argued that, due to planners’ central responsibility in addressing the climate change challenge, it is paramount that climate change education is integrated into all courses. Discourses around interdisciplinary collaboration and globally-focused planning education are considered as potential solutions to the lack of climate change-related teaching. The results of this paper emphasise a need for immediate reform of University curricula to ensure future planning graduates have adequate knowledge to address future urban climate change challenges.
Sustainable construction can have a significant influence on the economy of a country as well as on the social wellbeing of its public, as it ensures the quality of buildings including their health and safety aspects, structural stability and energy efficiency. Construction work thus has to be properly regulated and monitored. In Sri Lanka, regulations specifically meant for sustainable buildings have still not been made available. Therefore, the aim of this research was to enhance the sustainability of residential buildings in Sri Lanka through building regulations. The research used a qualitative approach to achieve the research objectives. Manual content analysis was used to analyse the findings. Seventeen factors that are used in Sri Lanka to measure sustainability were identified. Absence of encouragement from the government and political issue;, technical issues; poor knowledge of the clients; financial issues; insufficient support received from the management; social and cultural aspects unique to Sri Lanka; and drawbacks of the Sri Lankan education system were found to have a negatively effect on ensuring sustainability of the buildings constructed in the country. Finally, several recommendations were made to improve the sustainability of residential buildings , such as developing awareness in the relevant parties about sustainable construction, reviewing government policies, seeking advice from sustainability experts, educating clients on sustainability aspects, preparing o sustainability measurement tools, training of staff on sustainability aspects, enforcing rules to ensure sustainability, developing a culture of respect and emphasizing the need to change.
Key words: Building Regulations, Plan Approval Process, Residential Buildings, Sustainability
Pertumbuhan teknologi dan ekonomi saat ini semakin pesat dan maju, dalam perkembangan tersebut diikuti juga dengan dampak negatif limbah mesin otomotif yang semakin pesat pertumbuhan industrinya. Dampak negatif tersebut sangat mempengaruhi lingkungan. Limbah mesin khususnya otomotif akan memperburuk kondisi lingkungan dan mempengaruhi kesehatan hidup manusia. Melalui sosialisasi dan pelatihan yang seksama, kesadaran warga terhadap pengelolaan limbah menjadi maju dengan bisa membuat kerajinan yang bernilai ekonomi dari bahan limbah. Sosialisasi dan pelatihan ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kemampuan masyarakat dalam mengintegrasikan limbah mesin yang meningkat di lingkungan, adapun peserta kegiatan tersebut yakni masyarakat Desa Pemuda yang terdiri dari bapak, ibu dan para remaja sekitar 25 orang. Selain itu juga menggambarkan pengetahuan, keterampilan dan motivasi warga Desa Pemuda Kecamatan Pelaihari dalam pengelolaan limbah. Hasil dari kegiatan pelatihan ini adalah bertambahnya wawasan masyarakat dalam pengelolaan limbah dan membantu peserta mengolah limbah mesin, terutama shock motor bekas menjadi karya yang dapat dimanfaatkan di lingkungan masyarakat. Selain itu juga kegiatan ini mendapat sambutan yang sangat baik dengan keaktifan masyarakat mengikuti pendampingan dari awal hingga akhir kegiatan pengabdian. Kata Kunci: limbah mesin, penanggulannya
Cities are key in climate mitigation and adaptation, and they have developed into sites of innovative urban climate governance that can spur on climate action. Building on this development, a rich scholarship (within earth system governance and beyond) is now available that seeks to understand the development and performance of urban climate governance around the world. This article systematically reviews a decade of urban climate governance scholarship (building on 260 publications from 2009 to 2018). It is informed in this by four research challenges that were identified by leading scholars of urban climate governance a decade ago. The article seeks to understand how much progress has been made in the literature during this decade, and to identify the key research challenges for the critical decade that lies ahead of us.
Most modern architecture and new infrastructure developments are designed and built to more sustainable standards than their predecessors. This chapter describes a recent shift in the archetype of contemporary motorway service areas (MSAs) in the UK, towards sustainability-driven businesses, operating in eco-designed buildings that give greater consideration to the natural environment and attention to sustainable drainage as a site precedence. Stopping on motorways is prohibited, except in emergencies, so it has always been necessary to provide opportunities for road traffic users to rest, obtain fuel and refreshments, and utilise toilet facilities, without leaving the motorway network. The utilisation of the landscape through the installation of SuDS has been successfully demonstrated by the Hopwood Park MSA. The Gloucester MSAs are evidence of progression in MSA design, providing an exemplary sustainable building and landscape design, with an eco-business model.
During summer heatwaves, heat load exacerbates in urban heat islands (especially in hot climates) and threatens public life in cities. This paper examines the links between urban microclimates, outdoor thermal discomfort and public life through an exploratory case study. Heat resilience is highlighted as the ability of the space to support its normal activities when experiencing out-of-comfort temperatures. It also reports on the correlations between heat sensitive outdoor activities and urban greenery in three disparate case studies in Adelaide. Results indicate that necessary and optional activities start to decline after the apparent temperature reaches the threshold of 28 °C–32 °C, while activities in public spaces with more urban greenery show higher resilience to heat stress. Research findings propose heat resilience as a quality indicator in public space and support the application of urban greenery to make urban settings more resilient to heat stress.
Water resources management decision-making is a complicated matter, which encompasses reliance upon nature to assist in the prediction of unknown rainfall events. Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, there seems an ever-increasing shift in climate patterns towards extreme weather events with impacts that appear to be exacerbated by human activities in the built environment arena. As a result, this is causing widespread droughts and flooding to be commonplace for some countries, as shown in this chapter. The examples of such instances illustrate the necessity for water resources managers, water engineers and water policy-makers to ensure that they produce accurate and well-informed decisions to guarantee the sustained delivery of potable water supplies and the continued protection of society from floodwaters. The chapter presents the reasons for water scarcity and flooding. It also highlights the contents of other chapters in the Water Resources in the Built Environment: Management Issues and Solutions.
Water demand is reduced significantly by greywater harvesting (GwH) used for toilet flushing; household water use is reduced by approximately one-third. Savings are made from the reduction in water supplied by delivery tankers, on water infrastructure, from environmental benefits and reduction in health costs, demonstrating that benefits outweigh the costs of the system. This chapter provides insights and observations about GwH, from sources of greywater to types of systems, including issues due to uncertainty and reliability of its use. It describes two case studies (Whichelo Place and Earthship, in Brighton, United Kingdom (UK)) in which GwH has been successfully used, the discussion of which leads into considerations of the future of this approach to meeting increasing water demand. The chapter also critically assesses the future of GwH.
Global warming, depletion of natural resources, acid rains, air and water pollutions, and ozone depletions are some of the environmental consequences that are deemed attributable to human activities on planet earth. Sustainable practices have been therefore evolved as main remedies to tackles these issues. Green roof strategy is one of these practices that not only provides heat island amelioration and thermal comfort for occupants but also reduces energy consumption of buildings as well as add aesthetic values to the environment. This paper targets to run a review on the application of green roof strategy. The review scans a time frame from 2002 through early 2012 with a focus on energy related topics on energy related topics of green roofs. The review discussed various types of green roofs, components of a green roof, economic revenues, and technical attributes. Many general advantages and few general disadvantages of green roofs in one hand and pros and cons of green roofs with respect to energy utilization on the other hand are also synthesized. Some recommendations for future study are also proposed.
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