Community perceptions of environmental risks associated with large construction projects. Large construction projects have an enormous environmental impact, yet there has been little research in this area, particularly in developing countries where many such projects are being procured. Furthermore, research tends to focus on ecological impacts and ignore social and cultural issues. The result is a poor understanding of how perceptions of environmental risk are shaped in affected communities. To ....Community perceptions of environmental risks associated with large construction projects. Large construction projects have an enormous environmental impact, yet there has been little research in this area, particularly in developing countries where many such projects are being procured. Furthermore, research tends to focus on ecological impacts and ignore social and cultural issues. The result is a poor understanding of how perceptions of environmental risk are shaped in affected communities. To address this problem, we aim to establish a research agenda to investigate how communities affected by large construction projects in China perceive environmental risks. The outcome will be recommendations to help construction companies develop sustainable, consultative and socially sensitive practices.Read moreRead less
Impact and Effectiveness of Personal Ventilation in Open Plan Offices: a study of the Task Air system. Centralised air-conditioning systems are the standard for commercial office buildings in Australia. These systems are energy intensive, typically accounting for around 50% of building energy use. However, lack of occupant control over set temperatures or air movement tends to reduce thermal comfort, which can adversely affect worker productivity. The benefit of this project is that it will qu ....Impact and Effectiveness of Personal Ventilation in Open Plan Offices: a study of the Task Air system. Centralised air-conditioning systems are the standard for commercial office buildings in Australia. These systems are energy intensive, typically accounting for around 50% of building energy use. However, lack of occupant control over set temperatures or air movement tends to reduce thermal comfort, which can adversely affect worker productivity. The benefit of this project is that it will quantify the improvements to occupant comfort and energy savings possible with a PV system. This study will enable PV systems to be evaluated as an alternative to traditional air-conditioning, thereby demonstrating their effectiveness as a means of improving the sustainability rating of commercial office buildings in Australia.Read moreRead less
Managing cultural diversity on Australian construction sites. This research will help to improve the dismal occupational health and safety record of the Australian construction industry (240% more injuries than all-industry average). It will also help to reduce the relatively high levels of workplace compensation due to occupational injuries and diseases (70% higher than all-industry average). Since construction employs 8% of the working population and generates 6% of GDP, significant economic a ....Managing cultural diversity on Australian construction sites. This research will help to improve the dismal occupational health and safety record of the Australian construction industry (240% more injuries than all-industry average). It will also help to reduce the relatively high levels of workplace compensation due to occupational injuries and diseases (70% higher than all-industry average). Since construction employs 8% of the working population and generates 6% of GDP, significant economic and social benefits will arise for wider society from a more culturally harmonious, efficient and productive construction industry. Finally, by making construction safer for NESB migrants who are a significant source of labour, this research will help to reduce severe skill shortages.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
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
Natural and Artificial Lighting Control Energy and Visual Optimisation for a Low Energy Building. Artificial lighting is highlighted as the most significant area of opportunity to reduce energy as well as greenhouse emission. The application of intergrated daylight design together with artificial lighting control is researched. Control strategies of switching and dimming the artificial daylighting in conjunction with set-point levels, user preferences and daylighting maximisation are measured. T ....Natural and Artificial Lighting Control Energy and Visual Optimisation for a Low Energy Building. Artificial lighting is highlighted as the most significant area of opportunity to reduce energy as well as greenhouse emission. The application of intergrated daylight design together with artificial lighting control is researched. Control strategies of switching and dimming the artificial daylighting in conjunction with set-point levels, user preferences and daylighting maximisation are measured. The goal is to find the most effective saving strategies whilst maintaining visual comfortRead moreRead less
Forensic management approach to rework mitigation and prevention in construction. Rework is the unnecessary effort of re-doing a process or activity. The direct costs of rework in construction have been reported to be as high as 25% of project costs. These rework costs would be higher if they included the intangible, but real costs of disruption caused by schedule delays, litigation, and dysfunctional contract relationships. To reduce rework in construction projects a forensic project managem ....Forensic management approach to rework mitigation and prevention in construction. Rework is the unnecessary effort of re-doing a process or activity. The direct costs of rework in construction have been reported to be as high as 25% of project costs. These rework costs would be higher if they included the intangible, but real costs of disruption caused by schedule delays, litigation, and dysfunctional contract relationships. To reduce rework in construction projects a forensic project management model that can be used to stimulate learning and process improvement will be developed, evaluated and validated. This will enable the design of strategies to reduce rework and improve the overall performance of projects.Read moreRead less
Demonstrating the feasibility of designing sustainable buildings using evolutionary systems. The design approach proposed in this research will result in two key areas of national benefit. First, the research will enable Australian built environment design professions to become more competitive in both domestic and international markets. There is a growing demand for environmentally-friendly buildings and the proposed design approach will enable Australian firms to be at the cutting edge of sust ....Demonstrating the feasibility of designing sustainable buildings using evolutionary systems. The design approach proposed in this research will result in two key areas of national benefit. First, the research will enable Australian built environment design professions to become more competitive in both domestic and international markets. There is a growing demand for environmentally-friendly buildings and the proposed design approach will enable Australian firms to be at the cutting edge of sustainable design. Second, the research will enable the Australian built environment to become more sustainable. The proposed approach will enable buildings to be designed that perform well, that are cost effective and that minimise their environmental impact. Read moreRead less
Open-plan Office Concepts Determine Effective Facilities Space Management. Open-plan layout is the most predominant work-setting and office designs are changing substantially towards this style. This research addresses the question, "How do open-plan attributes affect effective facilities space management." While this layout is increasingly adopted, no research has definitively answered this question or evaluated open-plan design for its usefulness. This research therefore aims to respond to thi ....Open-plan Office Concepts Determine Effective Facilities Space Management. Open-plan layout is the most predominant work-setting and office designs are changing substantially towards this style. This research addresses the question, "How do open-plan attributes affect effective facilities space management." While this layout is increasingly adopted, no research has definitively answered this question or evaluated open-plan design for its usefulness. This research therefore aims to respond to this question and establish reliable criteria for effective management and re-engineering of offices with open-plans. This research is novel and timely since it endeavours to develop new models and objective criteria to better exploit this concept for greater office performance and productivity.Read moreRead less
Modelling greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial building construction. A reliable model of greenhouse gas emissions for commercial building construction is required. Construction product manufacturing emissions are well known, but those associated with the construction process (representing up to 25% of the energy embodied in construction products) have not been fully elucidated. Commercial building construction requires more energy per square metre than residential building constr ....Modelling greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial building construction. A reliable model of greenhouse gas emissions for commercial building construction is required. Construction product manufacturing emissions are well known, but those associated with the construction process (representing up to 25% of the energy embodied in construction products) have not been fully elucidated. Commercial building construction requires more energy per square metre than residential building construction, due mainly to lifting of heavy items. The results will be used to develop cost effective strategies for optimising greenhouse gas emissions associated with the total emissions from commercial building construction and operation. This will improve the environmental performance of the Australian construction industry.Read moreRead less