A reliability based approach for sustainable management of community buildings. The proposed project will address a major issue of maintaining service delivery and managing risk of failure of infrastructure assets owned by local councils. A working business tool will be developed based on fundamental understanding of behaviour of building infrastructure over a long period of time which will enable 79 local councils in Victoria to optimise their maintenance and capital expenditure with a realisti ....A reliability based approach for sustainable management of community buildings. The proposed project will address a major issue of maintaining service delivery and managing risk of failure of infrastructure assets owned by local councils. A working business tool will be developed based on fundamental understanding of behaviour of building infrastructure over a long period of time which will enable 79 local councils in Victoria to optimise their maintenance and capital expenditure with a realistic understanding of the implications of investment. The national benefit will be a significant improvement of service delivery to community through better design and management of council assets and a significant saving of maintenance cost of councils.Read moreRead less
Determination of key parameters and control strategies for fabric energy storage (FES) systems for the various climates of Australia. This research will establish the theoretical basis for the use of advanced fabric energy storage (FES) systems in commercial buildings in Australia. A thermal model of a FES will be developed and then incorporated into a full building model, so that the interaction of the FES with other building elements may be studied. The model will be validated against data fro ....Determination of key parameters and control strategies for fabric energy storage (FES) systems for the various climates of Australia. This research will establish the theoretical basis for the use of advanced fabric energy storage (FES) systems in commercial buildings in Australia. A thermal model of a FES will be developed and then incorporated into a full building model, so that the interaction of the FES with other building elements may be studied. The model will be validated against data from measurements taken in a commercial building. A parametric study will be carried out to determine the optimum control strategy options and design parameters for FES systems in various climates in Australia.Read moreRead less
Complexity Measures Of Design Spaces As Basis For Mass Customisation Of Novel Designs. This project aims to develop, implement and test a means to determine the potential of any arbitrary design generator to produce a diversity of designs and to utilise that means to control the mass customisation of novel designs. Globalisation of markets has produced the need to be able to mass customise designs that are not simple variants of existing designs. Any improvement in Australia's capacity to provid ....Complexity Measures Of Design Spaces As Basis For Mass Customisation Of Novel Designs. This project aims to develop, implement and test a means to determine the potential of any arbitrary design generator to produce a diversity of designs and to utilise that means to control the mass customisation of novel designs. Globalisation of markets has produced the need to be able to mass customise designs that are not simple variants of existing designs. Any improvement in Australia's capacity to provide this service will improve both its internal efficiency and increase its competitiveness in the increasing international marketplace for designing through the production of the basis for a new class of designing tools.Read moreRead less
Curious Places: Agent-Mediated Self-Aware Worlds. This project develops and demonstrates a model of curious places: physical and digital environments that adapt their behaviour based on their experiences. This means that we can implement new kinds of places, rooms, public spaces, that respond to human activity and new technology by creating their own goals and behaviours. This is a benefit to Australia by expanding its capability in home automation and leading developments in novel human-comput ....Curious Places: Agent-Mediated Self-Aware Worlds. This project develops and demonstrates a model of curious places: physical and digital environments that adapt their behaviour based on their experiences. This means that we can implement new kinds of places, rooms, public spaces, that respond to human activity and new technology by creating their own goals and behaviours. This is a benefit to Australia by expanding its capability in home automation and leading developments in novel human-computer interfaces. This benefit can provide economic gain to Australia through the development of frontier technologies.Read moreRead less
The performance of environmentally sustainable design features in commercial buildings. Two office buildings are to be analysed in respect of environmental performance both technically and in terms of the building occupants. The buildings are similar in location, use, quality and materials. One building contains several environmentally sustainable design features and it is expected that improvements in environmental outcomes will be observed when compared with the other building. The results ....The performance of environmentally sustainable design features in commercial buildings. Two office buildings are to be analysed in respect of environmental performance both technically and in terms of the building occupants. The buildings are similar in location, use, quality and materials. One building contains several environmentally sustainable design features and it is expected that improvements in environmental outcomes will be observed when compared with the other building. The results will provide a useful benchmark and a guide to the potential of environmentally sustainable property development.Read moreRead less
Economic, environmental and social psychological evaluation of independent senior living alternatives in Australia. Retirement village accommodation in Australia is expected to grow by as many as 115,000 units over the next twenty years, a tripling of the current industry. Stimson et al. (2002) identified the significant push-pull factors, but little or no work has been undertaken to identify spillover impacts to the broader community. This study investigates the economic, social, psychological ....Economic, environmental and social psychological evaluation of independent senior living alternatives in Australia. Retirement village accommodation in Australia is expected to grow by as many as 115,000 units over the next twenty years, a tripling of the current industry. Stimson et al. (2002) identified the significant push-pull factors, but little or no work has been undertaken to identify spillover impacts to the broader community. This study investigates the economic, social, psychological and environmental impacts that accrue to a range of stakeholders. Topics under investigation include cost savings to government funded assistance and infrastructure, psychological and social benefits to residents and their families, project and asset management efficiency, and turnover of housing stock.Read moreRead less
Safe and healthy construction: the influence of clients in driving improvement through construction procurement and project management practices. The project will measure the impact that the construction industry's clients can exert over the workplace health and safety (WHS) performance of projects. The project will identify client actions that have a positive impact upon WHS and will help embed WHS management practices in the procurement of major infrastructure construction projects.
Development of alternative barriers for protection of wooden structures from termites. This research aims to develop alternative barriers to those currently used for protection of wooden structures against termites. Barriers are essential to protect wooden structures. The current application of low persistence chemicals has proven to be unreliable since organochlorines were phased out. The cost of building and structural replacements due to termite damage in Australia amounts to millions of doll ....Development of alternative barriers for protection of wooden structures from termites. This research aims to develop alternative barriers to those currently used for protection of wooden structures against termites. Barriers are essential to protect wooden structures. The current application of low persistence chemicals has proven to be unreliable since organochlorines were phased out. The cost of building and structural replacements due to termite damage in Australia amounts to millions of dollars annually and will increase due to eventual failure of the organochlorine termiticides. Thus the proposed research seeks to evaluate polymer materials and coatings, including bonded materials as alternate barriers together with an assessment of risks to environment and health.Read moreRead less
Lifetime Affordable Housing in Australia: Integrating environmental performance and affordability. Existing dwellings and the locations of suburban housing with respect to employment centres result in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Water and other environmental issues are also important in housing performance, and there is currently a perceived trade-off between these factors and the affordability of housing. For the first time in Australia, this study will focus on overcoming this appare ....Lifetime Affordable Housing in Australia: Integrating environmental performance and affordability. Existing dwellings and the locations of suburban housing with respect to employment centres result in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Water and other environmental issues are also important in housing performance, and there is currently a perceived trade-off between these factors and the affordability of housing. For the first time in Australia, this study will focus on overcoming this apparent policy dilemma. The research will inform future housing policy in strengthening Australia's economic and social fabric, while contributing towards Australia's National Research Priority 1 'Environmentally Sustainable Australia'. Outcomes will provide significant national economic, social, water use and greenhouse gas benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
Improving the Environmental Performance of Australian Construction Projects. This project aims to investigate the environmental impacts of construction in Australia through the development of a sophisticated hybrid environmental assessment model. The project aims to assist in identifying the most significant environmental impacts, critical areas for mitigation efforts and informing environmental policy and programs within the Australian construction industry. The development of one of the most s ....Improving the Environmental Performance of Australian Construction Projects. This project aims to investigate the environmental impacts of construction in Australia through the development of a sophisticated hybrid environmental assessment model. The project aims to assist in identifying the most significant environmental impacts, critical areas for mitigation efforts and informing environmental policy and programs within the Australian construction industry. The development of one of the most sophisticated and comprehensive models for assessing environmental impacts ever produced is expected to enable cost- and time-efficient evaluation of multiple environmental impacts at a high level of detail and completeness. This should lead to considerable improvements to the environmental performance of Australian construction projects.Read moreRead less