International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment最新文献

To test metrics for rapid identification and global evaluation of more sustainable urban forms, we examine the configuration of the São Paulo Metropolitan Region (SPMR) in Brazil using satellite remote sensing data and landscape metrics. We adopt principles from landscape ecology and urban planning to evaluate urban heterogeneity and morphology that may constitute more sustainable urban forms, including connectivity, density, geometric complexity (mixed land use), diversity, and greening. Using 2-D wavelet multiresolution analysis and satellite-derived fractional vegetation cover (Fr), the variability of landscape metrics from Landsat (30 m) to MODIS (1 km) scales are investigated. According to our findings, metrics of Patch Density and Landscape Shape Index can be used at the 1-km scale to asses density and geometric complexity of urban form. With the addition of MODIS land surface temperature (LST) data, available at high temporal resolution, a move away from or toward more sustainable urban forms is defined in relation to mitigation of the urban heat island. As the geometric complexity and density of finer-scale urban characteristics are related to climatic impacts at the neighborhood scale, sustainability assessments may be more attainable across urban areas.

An overview of recent research related to building renovation has revealed that efforts to date do not address sustainability issues comprehensively. The question then arises in regard to the holistic sustainability objectives within building renovation context. In order to deal with this question, the research adopts a multi-dimensional approach involving literature review, exploration of existing assessment methods and methodologies, individual and focus group interviews, and application of Soft Systems Methodologies (SSM) with Value Focused Thinking (VFT). In doing so, appropriate data about sustainability objectives have been collected and structured, and subsequently verified using a Delphi study. A sustainability framework was developed in cooperation with University of Palermo and Aarhus University to audit, develop and assess building renovation performance, and support decision-making during the project’s lifecycle. The paper represents the results of research aiming at addressing sustainability of the entire renovation effort including new categories, criteria, and indicators. The developed framework can be applied during different project stages and to assist in the consideration of the sustainability issues through support of decision-making and communication with relevant stakeholders. Early in a project, it can be used to identify key performance criteria, and later to evaluate/compare the pros and cons of alternative retrofitting solutions either during the design stage or upon the project completion. According to the procedure of the consensus-based process for the development of an effective sustainability decision-making framework which was employed in this study, the outcome can also be considered as an outset step intended for the establishment of a Decision Support Systems (DSS) and assessment tool suited to building renovation context.

The world has seen the development and growth of urban areas at a faster pace. The rapid urban growth and development have resulted in the increase in the share of India’s urban population from 79 million in 1961 that was about 17.92 percent of India’s total population to 388 million in 2011 that is 31.30 percent of India’s total population. This fast rate of increase in urban population is mainly due to large scale migration of people from rural and smaller towns to bigger cities in search of better employment opportunities and better quality of life. Urban sprawl has resulted in loss of productive agricultural lands, open green spaces and loss of surface water bodies. Hence, there is a dire need to study, understand and quantify the urban sprawl. In this study, an attempt has been made to monitor land use/land cover of part of Dehradun city over two periods of time i.e., from 2004 to 2014 for change detection analysis and to assess urban sprawl using IRS P-6 data and topographic sheets, in GIS environment for better decision making and sustainable urban growth.

Decision making on buildings after the earthquake have always been a great concern of scientists. Safety concerns, possibility of using the building, repairing the building, and the rate of damage are some of the most vital factors that needs to be paid attention in immediate decision makings of the buildings. In order to determine the level of damage in the buildings, the maximum displacement of stories is one of the most important parameter that needs to be investigated. In this paper, a concrete frame with shear wall containing 4-stories and 4-bays has been designed for acceleration records of 0.1 g to 1.5 g and the rate of damage is determined. The total of 450 data with 6 input variables and one output variable is produced. The input parameters are defined as frequency, Vs, Richter, the distance from the earthquake epicentre (DEE), PGA, and acceleration, and the output parameter is defined as drift. With respect to this data set, three different data-driven models, i.e. Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), and Multiple Linear Regression Model (MLR) are used to predict the displacements. Results indicate that Both the ANN and ANFIS model show great accuracies in estimating the displacements in concrete frame with shear wall. On the other hand, MLR model did not show acceptable accuracy in the same estimation purposes. Finally, the sensitivity analysis was performed on the data set and it was observed that the accuracy of the predictions highly depends on the number of input parameters. In other words, increasing the number of input parameters would result in the increase in the accuracy of the final prediction results.

Nearly 30% of total population and over 2 million students of Delhi spent above 1/3rd of their daily time in different office buildings and educational institutions of Delhi, of which the ambient air quality is reportedly worst in the globe. However, studies on indoor air quality of non-residential buildings are scarce in India. Present study was conducted in two office buildings and one educational building in Delhi during pre-monsoon. CO₂, PM_2.5 and VOCs were measured inside each building at every 5 min interval between 9:30 AM and 5:30 PM for 5 days every week. The average CO₂ concentration in both office buildings (1513 ppm and 1338 ppm) was recorded much higher than the ASHRAE standard. Ductless air-conditioning system couple with poor air-circulation and active air-filtration could be attributed to significantly higher concentration of PM_2.5 in one of the office buildings (43.8 μg m⁻³). However, there was significant variation in the concentration of different pollutants at different locations in a building. Among different non-residential buildings, significantly lower concentration of all pollutants was recorded in the educational building (CO₂: 672 ppm; PM_2.5: 22.8 μg m⁻³ and VOC: 0.08 ppm). Total hazard ratio analysis ranks one of the office buildings as most hazardous to workers health compared to others.

During the last few years, an increasing interest has been appeared for earth as a building material. Earth-based materials have been studied because of energy efficiency and ecologically sustainability. The chromite deposits, 10% of the world reserves, are processed in Elazığ Ferrochrome Factory in Eastern of Turkey. Elazığ Ferrochrome slag (EFS) as a by-product of the factory is produced roughly 50,000 tons in a year. The disposal, removal and storage of this by-product is a serious problem. Therefore, the utilization of this waste material in building applications is very important. The aim of this work is to investigate effects of gypsum and EFS additives on mechanical and physical properties of unfired earth brick (UEB) materials in order to assess their potential advantages in building applications. The earth material was characterized by laboratory tests. Four different UEB samples were produced by using different compositions of earth, gypsum, EFS and straw fibers. Compressive strength, water absorption coefficient, drying shrinkage, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and density of the prepared UEB samples were determined. The experimental findings have showed that the usage of gypsum and EFS in stabilizing process of UEBs was advantageous.