17-06-2014, 03:59 PM
CEM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES
sustainable buildings:
smart, green and people-friendly
sustainable buildings.pdf (Size: 1.21 MB / Downloads: 215)
abstract
Buildings of the future have to take into account the challenges and the opportunities brought
about by technological, environmental and societal changes. Smart buildings have the advantage of
automated systems that control the environment and communicate with users. With the increasing
levels of sophistication in technology, communications and connectivity, smart buildings will become
an integral part of our lifestyles – something that the construction industry should recognise. In building
new buildings or refurbishing old ones, the ‘smart’ way to build smart buildings is to move away from
traditional methods of construction and to look at multi-disciplinary and integrated approaches, as
well as end-user perspectives. Furthermore, with the world’s increasing concern on climate change,
buildings will feature as one of the key areas for low-carbon performance. Supported by smart
technologies, green design will be a vital part of the new outlook for a building’s performance. In the
absence of other benchmarks, LEED and BREEAM schemes will likely become requisites for any
construction project, and the industry should pay heed to how this can serve as a reminder as well as
an opportunity for a responsible and profitable business model. Lastly, societies across the world will
require comfort, liveability and adaptation to demographic change. The construction industry is well
placed to play a crucial role to take on this task.
introduction
2
IP 3/12
Buildings are a fundamental part of our lives. We live, work and play in buildings almost 80% of our living
existence, and this trend is set to continue. Few communities worldwide can now claim to eke out a living
in a truly natural habitat. Due to the development of scientific farming methods, a small proportion of the
world’s population is now able to feed the rest, thereby enabling a rising share of the world to live in built
environments. In 1950, the share of the world’s population living in urban buildings was 29%, rising to
50% by 2007, and expected to reach a 60:40 split in 2030 (United Nations 2010). What this means is that
the demand for building space will expand dramatically; in Asia, for instance, roughly 500 million people
will require new housing by 2025 (Fifth Asia-Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-5) 2011).
There will be many challenges that lie ahead for the construction industry to come up with new ways to
accommodate these densely concentrated populations efficiently, effectively and sustainably. Clearly,
there are economies of scale in living in compact communities. Buildings with multiple residents and
users share walls, floors and ceilings with their neighbours, which means less materials will be required
to build structures as well as common systems. However, sustainable buildings will have to be designed
for modern challenges like climate change, indoor comfort and, importantly, human factors.
This paper considers three ways of designing sustainable buildings: smart buildings; green buildings;
and people-friendly developments.
a building smarter than a human?
Smart buildings in their most basic form are
buildings controlled by a computerised network
of electronic sensors and controls to monitor
and operate certain building functions such as
mechanical and lighting systems. A building
automation system (BAS) links sensors and
controllers on each floor to a master controller
supported by a front-end server (often Internetbased)
and a back-end database for storing
historical data. A BAS keeps the indoor climate
within a specified range and can provide lighting
and air conditioning based on an occupancy
schedule while monitoring system performance and
device failures. Building engineering teams are then
kept informed through automated reports (Mitchell
2005). Compared to a non-controlled building,
a BAS-controlled building has lower energy
consumption and reduced maintenance costs.
As a logical extension of BAS controls, smart
buildings are ‘a fusion of fully integrated services
that deliver key business benefits to the owner’
(Telindus 2007).
Combining BAS and IT through the backbone of an
Internet Protocol network allows multiple services
to be delivered to occupants. Research shows that
integrating smart technology into buildings during
the initial design will reduce the cost of construction
as the cost of multiple traditional systems is
removed. Once installed, the opportunities for
implementation are endless. Offices and homes
can find ‘intelligent’ ways of saving more energy, for
instance, by replacing wall-mounted thermostats
with individual, virtual sensors controlled by PCs.
Factories and shopping malls can switch off lighting
and air conditioning when not needed based on
motion sensors, and airports can link their flight
information databases to heating, lighting and airconditioning
systems at individual gates to restrict
energy use to when gate areas are occupied. Also,
staff costs can be kept down with centralised
management being put in place to optimise
budgets instead of expending intensive labour used
for monitoring. The role of facilities managers will
change dramatically in the future (Sinopoli 2011).
However, to mention reducing costs only is to
understate the true potential for smart buildings.
Smart buildings can provide a safe, secure and
comfortable environment, with wired and wireless
IT services combined with voice, video and data
services to deliver information to building users
irrespective of their location in the building. As
part of the smart system, contextual engines and
logic controllers can deliver real-time information
to those who find it relevant, based on location
and user profile. This is important in buildings with
mixed uses like schools, hospitals and prisons,
where the deployment of wireless systems allows
flexible working across the entire building and the
ability to gather information anywhere. Tracking
through Wi-Fi and radio-frequency identification
(RFID) tagging allows devices, people or assets
to be tracked as they move around within a few
metres of accuracy; in hospitals, a required piece
of medical equipment can be tagged so that it can
be quickly located via WiFi tracking technologies,
with potential life-saving consequences.
Smart buildings can further allow access control
through user authentication services, allowing the
user to access other systems with smart cards.
In addition to entry to selected areas, the access
People-friendly buildings
Green labelling is a means to embed environmental
performance in buildings, and having smart
technologies to provide security and comfort
to building users is also crucial. However, it is
important to take into account users’ societal
needs as buildings should be seen as a living part
of sustainable communities. Living spaces and
gathering points for communities should form part
of a building’s function as well as pleasing aesthetics
and living comfort; these are not always recognised
by green labels or smart systems.
Interestingly, a comparison between a conventional
high-rise office block and a contemporary green
building showed that the physical environment,
occupants’ visual and temperature sensation and
satisfaction levels are quite different between these
two types of buildings, even given the same location
and weather conditions. The greener building
possessed more natural ventilation systems, larger
glazing areas, higher thermal mass and a careful
layout design that emphasised the social aspects of
the building (Zhang and Altan 2011).
Separate research has shown that building
characteristics have strong relevance to an
individual’s response related to comfort, and that
perceived comfort can be influenced by several
personal, social and building factors. On the
one hand, efficient lighting, heating and cooling
have measurably increased worker productivity,
decreased absenteeism, and improved the
quality of work performed by reducing errors and
manufacturing defects (Romm and Browning 1994);
but on the other hand, environmental stressors such
as vibration, poor air quality and inadequate lighting
usually result in negative stress. It has been proven
that negative stress can cause short-term illness and
long-term physical and mental health problems. Air
quality especially has a bearing on communicable
respiratory illness, allergies and asthma symptoms
and impacts worker performance. The estimated
potential annual savings and productivity gains are
US$6–14 billion from reduced respiratory disease,
US$1–4 billion from reduced allergies and asthma,
and US$10–30 billion from reduced sick building
syndrome (SBS) symptoms (Fisk 2000).
Other than the direct benefits that sustainable
buildings have on worker performance, there are
further advantages as healthy communities help
stabilise society and maintain order. However, the
challenge that is emerging on the horizon is that of
ageing populations; by 2050 one person in five will
be over 60 years old (World Health Organisation
(WHO) 2005).
Popular belief maintains that ageing will involve more
healthcare services and more financial support; there
are some who regard ageing as an opportunity to
tap into the inherent wisdom, skills and knowledge
of older people. This can be done by creating
environments that foster engagement through ‘agefriendly’
buildings, i.e. buildings with outdoor spaces,
comfortable housing, social participation, respect
and social inclusion, employment, communication
and information, and community support. New York
City’s participation in the WHO’s Global Network of
Age-friendly Cities has, for instance, led to benefits
not only for the older people of New York, but people
from around the world as New York City is the model
for programmes in France, Slovenia, Ireland and,
potentially, China (WHO 2006).
Discussion
11
IP 3/12
From the earlier explanations, sustainable
buildings can be interpreted in three ways:
smart, green and people-oriented. But to look at
each of these in isolation is to miss a significant
opportunity to leverage one another. The following
applications should be considered:
Conclusions
• Buildings of the future have to take into
account the challenges and the opportunities
brought about by technological, environmental
and societal changes. We considered three
approaches: smart buildings; green buildings;
and people-friendly developments.
• Smart buildings have the advantage
of automated systems that control the
environment and communicate with users.
With the increasing levels of sophistication in
technology, communications and connectivity,
smart buildings will become an integral part of
our lifestyles – something that the construction
industry should recognise. In constructing new
buildings or refurbishing old ones, the ‘smart’
way to build smart buildings is to move away
from traditional methods of construction and
to look at multi-disciplinary and integrated
approaches, as well as end-user perspectives.
• Furthermore, with the world’s increasing
concern on climate change, buildings will
feature as one of the key areas for lowcarbon
performance. Supported by smart
technologies, green design will be a vital
part of the new outlook on a building’s
performance. In the absence of other
benchmarks, certification schemes like
LEED and BREEAM will most likely become
requisites for any construction project and
the industry should pay heed to how this can
serve as a reminder as well as an opportunity
for a responsible and profitable business
model.
• Societies are different across the world, but
common to all are the needs for comfort,
liveability and demographic change.
• Integration of these three approaches will form
an enabling, interfacing, decision-making and
holistic model for sustainable buildings of the
future. The construction industry is well placed
to play a crucial role to take on this task.