Year: 2015

Australia is faced with the challenge of housing and caring for an increasingly ageing population. As the human body ages its sensitivity to changes in the thermal environment diminishes. This paper discusses a recent survey of older people living in Adelaide, South Australia, about the conditions of their living environment, their general health conditions and…

This paper assesses the levels of comfort within outdoor educational urban precincts in Melbourne. Three urban spaces, in relatively close proximity to each other were investigated in two different seasons: spring 2014 and summer 2015. In total, 368 and 413 comfort responses were collected in the spring and summer seasons, respectively. The preliminary results show…

The application of Double Skin Facades (DSFs) in hot climates is limited and their potential benefits are still under investigation. Moreover, daylight and thermal performances of the double façade are rarely studied together. In this paper a set of parameters are optimized for the design of a folded porous double façade for an existing office…

The focus of this paper is on the shift from the GLS (incandescent) technologies that dominated 20th century experience of light, to Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). It argues that expectations, based upon the performance and behaviour of 20th century lighting technologies, have profoundly influenced the direction taken in developing LED technologies for lighting design applications….

Balconies, as one of the main architectural features in subtropical climates, are assumed to enhance the ventilation performance of buildings by redirecting the wind. Although there are some studies on the effect of balconies on natural ventilation inside buildings, the majority have been conducted on single zone buildings with simple geometries. The purpose of this…

Aquatic centres are popular recreational facilities in Australia and other developed countries. These buildings have experienced exponential demand over the past few decades. The growing desire for better indoor environmental quality in aquatic centres has resulted in a marked increase in energy consumption in this sector. Community expectations in relation to aquatic centres are rising…

To date the sustainable commercial building sector in Australia has focused primarily on energy, due in large part to the mandatory disclosure provisions of the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS). Other dimensions of building sustainability such as Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) are less well developed. But widespread concerns about occupant productivity is shifting…

High contrast ratios between windows and surrounding surfaces could cause reduced visibility or discomfort for occupants. Consequently, building users may choose to intervene in lighting conditions through closing blinds and turning on the lamps in order to enhance indoor visual comfort. Such interventions increase projected electric lighting use in buildings. One simple method to prevent…

Design of outdoor sites for improved thermal comfort will contribute to greater use and value of these environments. Whilst there are many available thermal comfort indices, the complexity of external sites makes the useful application of these in outdoor site design difficult. This paper discusses two case studies: phase 5 of Masdar City in the…

According to the International Energy Agency, lighting makes up about 19% (~3000 TWh) of the global electric consumption. Often the lighting energy savings cannot be provided in new buildings with new lighting systems. Therefore, major potential in lighting energy savings can be found in the existing building stock (older than 25 years). Educational environments such…

This paper investigates two different daylight metrics, the commonly used daylight factor (DF) and the new IES approved climate based daylight modelling method (CBDM) IES LM-83-12 in comparison, with regards to their impact on the overall energy demand for heating, cooling and lighting as well as the optimum resulting window size. The assessment has been…

This investigation is about applying the ISO-7730 Fanger (static) Comfort model to two fully air-conditioned, yet, differently performing buildings, based on research into on-site comfort performance measurements using comfort carts. The results challenge the common perception that the ISO-7730 model is concerned with a narrow temperature band. Regardless of the environmental variations encountered temporally and…

The importance of the cooling effect of air movement to thermal comfort in hot humid climates is widely acknowledged, however theoretical models of this effect have not been tested in a residential setting. An 11 month longitudinal comfort study of 20 houses in Darwin, Australia yielded 1360 thermal comfort vote responses with corresponding indoor climatic…

This paper draws upon the distinction between aesthetic and operative characteristics of models set for exploration in scientific and architectural research. Specifically, it weaves a link between Cache’s concept of Objectile and architectural models appointed for studying design’s inner logic also in reference to models describing biological functions. The outcome of this synergy is models…

The range and diversity of approaches in the design of the built environment have reached a productive disarray at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Among these approaches, technology and biomimicry seem to be two pivotal notions. Assessing the technology-based and biomimetic architectural designs reveals the limitations of both notions in producing designed and built…

As the viability of Melbourne’s manufacturing industry declines, the production process is either phased out, or is moved to other areas. In this current economic climate, the pressing notion for redevelopment to privilege a regulated, homogenous new development is favoured. This new construction becomes almost foreign to the idea of an ingrained memory and the…

The widespread availability of automated fabrication tools is rising dramatically. The pairing of CAD/CAM software and automated tools presents a shift in how the designer can take part in the manufacture process. This paper investigates how computing technologies can be effectively utilized to democratise the production of building components through simple design to build workflow,…

Contemporary architectural programming, as a holistic process rather than static document, is utilised for effective communication, control and evaluation of design proposals across the whole construction project cycle. Designing for prefabrication benefits from planning and control of processes, with a strong client focus, and established relationships between project team members. This planning, control and communication…

Digital fabrication has suggested the supplanting of labour via robotics since it affords substantial increases in speed and accuracy in the development of architectural components. This potentiality might offer solutions for architectures on the verge of extinction due to vanishing skilled labour. This research investigates the possibilities of using new manufacturing techniques to replace the…

The author is investigating the ability of digital fabrication tools to provide an alternative method for creating affordable flexible single family residential units as a part of an ongoing PhD research. This paper presents a review of previous attempts within the time frame of twenty years with a thorough analysis and breakdown of the prototypes….

Work-integrated learning has been suggested as a means to apply theoretical knowledge in a real-world context. Yet tensions exist between the opportunities afforded by the workplace, and the demands of placing large student cohorts in that workplace while ensuring pedagogical rigour. For students in construction-related disciplines, access to building sites to contextualise learning is a…

This paper frames preliminary explorations in the process of connecting new designers in an online, distance learning environment, developing strategies for distance education and collaboration. The research seeks to better understand the multifaceted issues developed by the loss of in-class face time in relation to growing global communities and education systems. The involved authors have…

Three years ago we introduced flipped teaching strategies to large cohorts of first-year university students learning about construction. Paradoxically, our aim in providing online content was to improve and expand the on-campus experience. By transferring lecture content online we were able to extend our two-hour face-to-face tutorials to three hours and also increase the interdisciplinary…

This paper investigates the potential of using parametric software to analyse the attributes of spaces using Space Syntax methodology and implementing the outcomes in an urban design project. This research aims to reveal the attributes of spaces in a proposed site for a new town centre and an aquatic centre development in the town of…