Search results for: residential dwellings

Authors: Ting-Yu Lin, Han-Liang Lin

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This article is about the urban form of visualization by Cityengine. City is composed of different domains, and each domain has its own fabric because of arrangement. For example, a neighborhood unit contains fabrics such as schools, street networks, residential and commercial spaces. Therefore, studying urban morphology can help us understand the urban form in planning process. Streets, plots, and buildings seem as urban fabrics, and they configure urban form. Traditionally, urban morphology usually discussed single parameter, which is building type, ignoring other parameters such as streets and plots. However, urban space is three-dimensional, instead of two-dimensional. People perceive urban space by their visualization. Therefore, using visualization can fill the gap between two dimensions and three dimensions. Hence, the study of urban morphology will strengthen the understanding of whole appearance of a city. Cityengine is a software which can edit, analyze and monitor the data and visualize the result for GIS, a common tool to analyze data and display the map for urban plan and urban design. Cityengine can parameterize the data of streets, plots and building types and visualize the result in three-dimensional way. The research will reappear the real urban form by visualizing. We can know whether the urban form can be parameterized and the parameterized result can match the real urban form. Then, visualizing the result by software in three dimension to analyze the rule of urban form. There will be three stages of the research. It will start with a field survey of Tainan East District in Taiwan to conclude the relationships between urban fabrics of street networks, plots and building types. Second, to visualize the relationship, it will turn the relationship into codes which Cityengine can read. Last, Cityengine will automatically display the result by visualizing.

Keywords: Cityengine, urban fabric, urban morphology, visual simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Guanglin Song

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(Objective) Situated within the context of China's tiered medical treatment system, this study aims to analyze spatial causes of urban healthcare access difficulties from the perspective of the configuration of healthcare facilities. (Methods) A social network analysis approach is employed to construct a healthcare demand and supply flow network between major residential clusters and various tiers of hospitals in the city.(Conclusion) The findings reveal that:1.there exists overall maldistribution and over-concentration of healthcare resources in Study Area, characterized by structural imbalance; 2.the low rate of primary care utilization in Study Area is a key factor contributing to congestion at higher-tier hospitals, as excessive reliance on these institutions by neighboring communities exacerbates the problem; 3.gradual optimization of the healthcare facility layout in Study Area, encompassing holistic, local, and individual institutional levels, can enhance systemic efficiency and resource balance.(Prospects) This research proposes a method for evaluating urban healthcare resource distribution structures based on service flows within hierarchical networks. It offers spatially targeted optimization suggestions for promoting the implementation of the tiered healthcare system and alleviating challenges related to accessibility and congestion in seeking medical care. Provide some new ideas for researchers and healthcare managers in countries, cities, and healthcare management around the world with similar challenges.

Keywords: flow of public services, urban networks, healthcare facilities, spatial planning, urban networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 49

Authors: Christian Kapuku, Seung-Young Kho

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An accurate representation of the transportation system serving the region is one of the important aspects of transportation modeling. Such representation often requires developing an abstract model of the system elements, which also requires important amount of data, surveys and time. However, in some cases such as in developing countries, data deficiencies, time and budget constraints do not always allow such accurate representation, leaving opportunities to assumptions that may negatively affect the quality of the analysis. With the emergence of Internet open source data especially in the mapping technologies as well as the advances in Geography Information System, opportunities to tackle these issues have raised. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to demonstrate such application through a practical case of the development of the transportation network for the city of Kinshasa. The GIS geo-referencing was used to construct the digitized map of Transportation Analysis Zones using available scanned images. Centroids were then dynamically placed at the center of activities using an activities density map. Next, the road network with its characteristics was built using OpenStreet data and other official road inventory data by intersecting their layers and cleaning up unnecessary links such as residential streets. The accuracy of the final network was then checked, comparing it with satellite images from Google and Bing. For the validation, the final network was exported into Emme3 to check for potential network coding issues. Results show a high accuracy between the built network and satellite images, which can mostly be attributed to the use of open source data.

Keywords: geographic information system (GIS), network construction, transportation database, open source data

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Ranojoy Dutta, Adam Barker

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Multifamily residential buildings are increasingly being built with large glazed areas to provide tenants with greater daylight and outdoor views. However, traditional double-glazed window assemblies can lead to significant thermal discomfort from high radiant temperatures as well as increased cooling energy use to address solar gains. Dynamic glazing provides an effective solution by actively controlling solar transmission to maintain indoor thermal comfort, without compromising the visual connection to outdoors. This study uses thermal simulations across three Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal) to verify if dynamic glazing along with operable windows and ceiling fans can maintain the indoor operative temperature of a prototype southwest facing high-rise apartment unit within the ASHRAE 55 adaptive comfort range for a majority of the year, without any mechanical cooling. Since this study proposes the use of natural ventilation for cooling and the typical building life cycle is 30-40 years, the typical weather files have been modified based on accepted global warming projections for increased air temperatures by 2050. Results for the prototype apartment confirm that thermal discomfort with dynamic glazing occurs only for less than 0.7% of the year. However, in the baseline scenario with low-E glass there are up to 7% annual hours of discomfort despite natural ventilation with operable windows and improved air movement with ceiling fans.

Keywords: electrochromic glazing, multi-family housing, passive cooling, thermal comfort, natural ventilation

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Authors: Muhammad Faisal, Zai-Jin You, Muhammad Naeem

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Concerns about the environment, public health, and the economy are raised by the fact that the world produces around 6 trillion cigarettes annually. Arguably the most pervasive forms of environmental litter, this dangerous trash must be eliminated. The researchers wanted to get an idea of how much pollution is seeping out of cigarette butts in metropolitan areas by studying their distribution and concentration. In order to accomplish this goal, the cigarette butt pollution indicator was applied in 29 different areas. The locations were monitored monthly for a full calendar year. The conditions for conducting the investigation of the venues were the same on both weekends and during the weekdays. By averaging the metal leakage ratio in various climates and the average weight of cigarette butts, we were able to estimate the total amount of heavy metal leakage. The findings revealed that the annual average value of the index for the areas that were investigated ranged from 1.38 to 10.4. According to these numbers, just 27.5% of the areas had a low pollution rating, while 43.5% had a major pollution status or worse. Weekends witnessed the largest fall (31% on average) in all locations' indices, while spring and summer saw the largest increase (26% on average) compared to autumn and winter. It was calculated that the average amount of heavy metals such as Cr, Cu, Cd, Zn, and Pb that seep into the environment from discarded cigarette butts in commercial, residential, and park areas, respectively, is 0.25 µg/m2, 0.078 µg/m2, and 0.18 µg/m2. Butt from cigarettes is one of the most prevalent forms of litter in the area that was examined. This litter is the origin of a wide variety of contaminants, including heavy metals. This toxic garbage poses a significant risk to the city.

Keywords: heavy metal, hazardous waste, waste management, litter

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Adedayo Jeremiah Adeyekun, Samuel Oluwagbemiga Ishola

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This paper aimed to identify the significance of sustainability in the built environment, the economic and environmental importance to building and construction projects. Sustainability in the built environment has been a key objective of research over the past several decades. Sustainability in the built environment requires reconciliation between economic, environmental and social impacts of design and planning decisions made during the life cycle of a project from inception to termination. Planning for sustainability in the built environment needs us to go beyond our individual disciplines to consider the variety of economic, social and environmental impacts of our decisions in the long term. A decision to build a green residential development in an isolated location may pass some of the test of sustainability through its reduction in stormwater runoff, energy efficiency, and ecological sustainability in the building, but it may fail to be sustainable from a transportation perspective. Sustainability is important to the planning, design, construction, and preservation of the built environment; because it helps these activities reflect multiple values and considerations. In fact, the arts and sciences of the built environment have traditionally integrated values and fostered creative expression, capabilities that can and should lead the sustainability movement as society seeks ways to live in dynamic balance with its own diverse needs and the natural world. This research aimed to capture the state-of-the-art in the development of innovative sustainable design and planning strategies for building and construction projects. Therefore, there is a need for a holistic selection and implication approach for identifying potential sustainable strategies applicable to a particular project and evaluating the overall life cycle impact of each alternative by accounting for different applicable impacts and making the final selection among various viable alternatives.

Keywords: sustainability, built environment, planning, design, construction

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Megan Burfoot, Shanta Budha-Magar, Ali Ghaffarianhoseini, Amirhoseini Ghaffarianhoseini

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Domestic backyards offer a valuable opportunity to contribute to biodiversity conservation efforts and promote ecological sustainability by cultivating native plant species. This study focuses on assessing the presence and maintenance of native plants in New Zealand's residential gardens through an online questionnaire. The survey was designed to collect data on the presence of native, exotic, and lawn plants in New Zealand backyards, alongside the allocation of maintenance resources for each category. Targeting a diverse range of residents and property sizes from different regions of New Zealand, this study sought to gain essential insights into practices related to native plant cultivation. Results reveal there is a collective inclination to reduce lawn coverage and introduce a higher abundance of native and exotic species. A thorough analysis of maintenance practices reveals a significant portion of respondents embracing environmentally friendly gardening, characterized by low-intensity fertilizer usage. Homeowners, especially those residing in their properties, demonstrate proactive engagement in backyard maintenance. Native plants were found to require more time, money and fertilizer for maintenance than those of exotic and lawn species. The insights gained from this study can guide targeted efforts to enhance urban biodiversity, making a significant contribution to the preservation and enrichment of New Zealand's unique biodiversity and ecological heritage in urban settings.

Keywords: biodiversity, backyards, planting behaviour, backyard maintenance, native planting

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Authors: Abdullah Arafat, Ali Al-Farhan, Amir Omair

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Objectives: To review and assess the effectiveness of the implemented modified five-levels triage and acuity scale triage system in AL-Yarmook Urgent Care Center (UCC), King Abdulaziz Residential city, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method: The applied study design was an observational cross sectional design. A data collection sheet was designed and distributed to triage nurses; the data collection was done during triage process and was directly observed by the co-investigator. Triage system was reviewed by measuring three time intervals as quality indicators: time before triage (TBT), time before being seen by physician (TBP) and total length of stay (TLS) taking in consideration timing of presentation and level of triage. Results: During the study period, a total of 187 patients were included in our study. 118 visits were at weekdays and 68 visits at weekends. Overall, 173 patients (92.5%) were seen by the physician in timely manner according to triage guidelines while 14 patients (7.5%) were not seen at appropriate time.Overall, The mean time before seen the triage nurse (TBT) was 5.36 minutes, the mean time to be seen by physician (TBP) was 22.6 minutes and the mean length of stay (TLS) was 59 minutes. The data didn’t showed significant increase in TBT, TBP, and number of patients not seen at the proper time, referral rate and admission rate during weekend. Conclusion: The CTAS is adaptable to countries beyond Canada and worked properly. The applied CTAS triage system in Al-Yarmook UCC is considered to be effective and well applied. Overall, urgent cases have been seen by physician in timely manner according to triage system and there was no delay in the management of urgent cases.

Keywords: CTAS, emergency, Saudi Arabia, triage, urgent care

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Authors: Lorena Polovina, Maddy Kennedy-Parrott, Mohammad Fakoor

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The construction industry accounts for approximately 40% of total GHG emissions worldwide. In order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, ambitious reductions in the carbon intensity of our buildings are crucial. Passive House presents an opportunity to reduce operational carbon by as much as 90% compared to a traditional building through improving thermal insulation, limiting thermal bridging, increasing airtightness and heat recovery. Up until recently, Passive House design was mainly concerned with meeting the energy demands without considering embodied carbon. As buildings become more energy-efficient, embodied carbon becomes more significant. The main objective of this research is to calculate the embodied carbon impact of a Passive House and compare it with the BC Energy Step Code (ESC). British Columbia is committed to increasing the energy efficiency of buildings through the ESC, which is targeting net-zero energy-ready buildings by 2032. However, there is a knowledge gap in the embodied carbon impacts of more energy-efficient buildings, in particular Part 3 construction. In this case study, life cycle assessments (LCA) are performed on Part 3, a multi-unit residential building in Victoria, BC. The actual building is not constructed to the Passive House standard; however, the building envelope and mechanical systems are designed to comply with the Passive house criteria, as well as Steps 1 and 4 of the BC Energy Step Code (ESC) for comparison. OneClick LCA is used to perform the LCA of the case studies. Several strategies are also proposed to minimize the total carbon emissions of the building. The assumption is that there will not be significant differences in embodied carbon between a Passive House and a Step 4 building due to the building envelope.

Keywords: embodied carbon, energy modeling, energy step code, life cycle assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Jonathan Nii Laryea Ashong, Samuel Opare

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Current sustainable cities debate focuses on the formidable problems for the Ghana’s largest urban and rural agglomerations, the majority of all urban dwellers continue to reside in far smaller urban settlements. It is estimated that by year 2030, almost all the Ghana’s population growth will likely be intense in urban areas including Nkawkaw in the Kwahu West Municipality of Ghana. Nkawkaw is situated on the road and former railway between Accra and Kumasi, and lies about halfway between these cities. It is also connected by road to Koforidua and Konongo. According to the 2013 census, Nkawkaw has a settlement population of 61,785. Many international agencies, government and private architectures’ are been asked to adequately recognize the naming of streets and property addressing system among the 170 districts across Ghana. The naming of streets and numbering of properties is to assist Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to manage the processes for establishing coherent address system nationally. Street addressing in the Nkawkaw in the Kwahu West Municipality which makes it possible to identify the location of a parcel of land, public places or dwellings on the ground based on system of names and numbers, yet agreement on how to progress towards it remains elusive. Therefore, reliable and effective development control for proper street naming and property addressing systems are required. The Intelligent Addressing (IA) technology from the UK is being used to name streets and properties in Ghana. The intelligent addressing employs the technique of unique property Reference Number and the unique street reference number which would transform national security and other service providers’ ability to respond rapidly to distress calls. Where name change is warranted following the review of existing streets names, the Physical Planning Department (PPDs) shall, in consultation with the relevant traditional authorities and community leadership (or relevant major stakeholders), select a street name in accordance with the provisions of the policy and the processes outlined for street name change for new development. In the case of existing streets with no names, the respective PPDs shall, in consultation with the relevant traditional authorities and community leadership (or relevant major stakeholders), select a street name in accordance with the requirements set out in municipality. Naming of access ways proposed for new developments shall be done at the time of developing sector layouts (subdivision maps) for the designated areas. In the case of private gated developments, the developer shall submit the names of the access ways as part of the plan and other documentation forwarded to the Municipal District Assembly for approval. The names shall be reviewed first by the PPD to avoid duplication and to ensure conformity to the required standards before submission to the Assembly’s Statutory Planning Committee for approval. The Kwahu West Municipality is supposed to be self-sustaining, providing basic services to inhabitants as a result of proper planning layouts, street naming and property addressing system that prevail in the area. The implications of these future projections are discussed.

Keywords: Nkawkaw, Kwahu west municipality, street naming, property, addressing system

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Authors: Zeynep Tanrıverdi

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The Bosphorus is an international waterway in Istanbul city of Turkey connecting the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. The Bosphorus, which has formed an important part of the silhouette of Istanbul throughout history, has also influenced the design of the coastal structures built around it. The waterfront mansions, which are located on both sides of the Bosphorus by the sea, and can be generally of two or three storeys, are called “yalı”. The yalı buildings with their architectural characteristics of the traditional Turkish House are the most grandiose examples of Ottoman residential architecture. However, the classical Ottoman yalı architecture of the 18th century can only be seen in engravings, and today only the modest and smaller yalı examples from the 19th century can be seen because of their disappearance over time. The study aims to reveal the architectural conservation and restoration problems of waterfront mansions and propose solutions for them. Firstly, the development of the waterfront mansion architecture in Bosphorus was evaluated in its historical process. Secondly, the waterfront mansions and their architectural features were explained. Thirdly, the architectural conservation and restoration problems that caused the disappearance of waterfront mansions were discussed. These problems include disruptions in legal regulations and practices about the Bosphorus, dramatic changes in Turkey’s socio-cultural life from the Ottoman Empire to the present, inadequacies in economic resources, negative environmental effects, and errors in restoration works. Finally, solution suggestions were proposed for the problems that threaten the protection of waterfront mansions. In the study, literature on waterfront mansions was reviewed using historical reports, photographs, maps, and drawings in archival documents. It is hoped that this study will contribute the conservation of the “Yalı” waterfront mansions, which occupy a particular role in the cultural heritage of Turkey, and to their transmission with their authentic values to the next generation.

Keywords: bosphorus architecture, conservation, heritage, Istanbul, waterfront mansions (yalı)

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Sandeep Bandarwadkar, Tadas Zdankus

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To maintain a comfortable indoor temperature for its residents in the colder season, heating a building is necessary. Due to the expansion in the construction sectors, the consumption of heating energy is increasing. According to Eurostat data, in the European Union, the share of energy consumption of heating energy for space and cooling in residential buildings was around 63% in 2019. These figures indicate that heating energy still accounts for a significant portion of total energy consumption in Europe. Innovation is crucial to reduce energy consumption in buildings and achieve greater energy efficiency and sustainability. It can bring about new solutions that are smarter and more natural energy generation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The ground can serve as an effective and sustainable heat accumulator for heating and cooling. The temperature of the ground is higher than that of the ambient air in the colder period and lower in the warmer period. The building deep in the soil could use less thermal energy compared to the above-ground buildings that provide the same amount of thermal comfort. The temperature difference between the soil and the air inside the building decreases as the temperature of the soil increases. In progress, this process generates the condition that acts against heat loss. However, heat dissipates further to the consecutive layers and reaches thermal equilibrium. The charging of the ground by heat and its dissipation through the adjacent soil layers was investigated experimentally. The results of this research showed that 9% of the energy savings in partially underground buildings and 44.4% in completely underground buildings were derived from heating the space. Heat loss to the ground is treated as a charge of the soil by thermal energy. The dependence of the intensity of the charge on time was analysed and presented.

Keywords: heat transfer, accumulation of heat, underground building, soil charge

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: A. Llopis Alvarez, D. Muller-Eie

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Participatory GIS (geographic information systems) are designed for community mapping exercises in order to produce spatial representations of local knowledge. Ideally, participatory GIS caters to public participation through the use of spatial data in order to increase community-led policy-and decision-making. Having defined a spatial object, such as a neighborhood, subjective mapping involves attaining a description of the spatial, physical, social and psychological characteristics of that spatial object. This paper highlights an emerging appreciation of the subjective component, particularly in spatial analyses. The beliefs, feelings, and behaviors associated with an urban area reflect its sense of place for an individual or a group. It is important therefore to understand what types of beliefs, emotions, and behavioral patterns are relevant to particular resident, groups and urban scales. In this sense, resident’s emotional attachment to their urban areas motivates civic engagement and facilitates awareness of its strengths and its problems. Similarly, subjective perceptions act in complex ways to influence the formation and maintenance of social identity and quality of life. This paper reports on findings from a case study of immigrant population in Norwegian cities, their residential conditions and their relationship to quality of urban life. Cognitive mapping methodologies are used in this study to understand local perceptions of urban qualities. Thus, measures to alleviate disadvantages and improve quality of urban life are more likely to be effective when they are informed by an understanding of a place as constructed by those who live in it, meaning their subjective perceptions about it.

Keywords: mapping methodologies, participatory GIS, perceptual maps, public participation, spatial analysis, subjective perceptions

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Authors: Leila Kharrat, Younes Boujelbene

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In recent decades, solid waste management (SWM) has become a global concern because rapid population growth and overexploitation of non-renewable resources have generated enormous amounts of waste far exceeding carrying capacity; too, it poses serious threats to the environment and health. However, it is still difficult to combat the growing amount of solid waste before assessing the condition of people. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, perception, and practices on the separation of solid waste in Sfax City. Nowadays, GDS is essential for sustainable development, hence the need for intensive research. Respondents from seven different districts in the city of Sfax were analyzed through a questionnaire survey with 342 households. This paper presents a qualitative exploratory study on the behavior of the citizens in the field of waste separation. The objective knows the antecedents of waste separation and the representation that individuals have about sorting waste on a specific territory which presents some characteristics regarding waste management in Sfax city. Source separation is not widely practiced and people usually sweep their places throwing waste components into the streets or neighboring plots. The results also indicate that participation in solid waste separation activities depends on the level of awareness of separating activities in the area, household income and educational level. It is, therefore, argued that increasing quality of municipal service is the best means of promoting positive attitudes to solid waste separation activities. One of the effective strategies identified by households that can be initiated by policymakers to increase the rate of participation in separation activities and eventually encourage them to participate in recycling activities is to provide a financial incentive in all residential areas in Sfax city.

Keywords: solid waste management, waste separation, public policy, econometric modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 222

Authors: Thohaku Abdul Hadi, Hadyan Perdana Putra, Nugroho Wicaksono, Adhika Prajna Nandiwardhana, Onang Surya Nugroho, Heri Suryoatmojo, Soedibjo

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Access to electricity is now a basic requirement of mankind. Unfortunately, there are still many places around the world which have no access to electricity, such as small islands, where there could potentially be a factory, a plantation, a residential area, or resorts. Many of these places might have substantial potential for energy generation such us Photovoltaic (PV) and Wind turbine (WT), which can be used to generate electricity independently for themselves. Solar energy and wind power are renewable energy sources which are mostly found in nature and also kinds of alternative energy that are still developing in a rapid speed to help and meet the demand of electricity. PV and Wind has a characteristic of power depend on solar irradiation and wind speed based on geographical these areas. This paper presented a control methodology of hybrid small scale PV/Wind energy system that use a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) to extract the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in different solar irradiation and wind speed. This paper discusses simulation and analysis of the generation process of hybrid resources in MPP and power conditioning unit (PCU) of Photovoltaic (PV) and Wind Turbine (WT) that is connected to the three-phase low voltage electricity grid system (380V) without battery storage. The capacity of the sources used is 2.2 kWp PV and 2.5 kW PMSG (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator) -WT power rating. The Modeling of hybrid PV/Wind, as well as integrated power electronics components in grid connected system, are simulated using MATLAB/Simulink.

Keywords: fuzzy MPPT, grid connected inverter, photovoltaic (PV), PMSG wind turbine

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Authors: Hung Ton

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The Vietnamese community in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a minority group with an estimated less than 1% of the population. They have been in Canada since the 1970s, therefore, many funding sources are considering them as a long-time residential group. However, their limitation of resources cannot give them equal opportunities to successfully gain support from many levels of government in Canada, compared to other long-time settled and large groups. In 2020 and 2021, they have zero financial support for addressing problem gambling in the Vietnamese community. In contrast, casinos never forget this community. The gambling industry has been targeting the Vietnamese community as one of their major clientele groups. There are always in-equal battles between low-budget educational workshops by this underserved community group and expensive variety music shows by casinos. In the very same target group, five single lines of free ads by a community project cannot get more attention than a full-page colorful poster by casinos. An outreach worker is running back and forth to talk to a group of 10 or 15 persons in an ESL or Tai Chi class held in a basement of an old community center while fifty thousand dollars variety music shows can attract five thousand audience in their luxury facilities. Five-dollar vouchers for those who attend the problem gambling awareness session are incomparable to two hundred dollar free tickets for people to attend the show in casinos and then exit the gambling area after the show ends. There is only one problem gambling counselor who speaks the Vietnamese language in the Ontario province and in Canada at large. However, there are 70 casinos in Ontario and more than 200 licensed gambling facilities in Canada. He has been lonely in all in-equal "battles" for the last almost 25 years. He exists, fighting over there with or without funding support for the program, he fights still.

Keywords: Canadian Vietnamese, gambling addiction, gambling treatment, community awareness

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Authors: Igor Peraza Curiel, Suzanne Strum

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Today, when many foreign architects are receiving commissions in the United Arab Emirates, it is essential to analyze how their designs are influenced by the region's culture, environment, and building traditions. This study examines the approach to siting, geometry, construction methods, and material choices in two private homes for a family in Dubai, a project being constructed on adjacent sites by the acclaimed Spanish team of RCR Architects. Their third project in Dubai, the houses mark a turning point in their design approach to the desert. The Pritzker Prize-winning architects of RCR gained renown for building works deeply responsive to the history, landscape, and customs of their hometown in a volcanic area of the Catalonia region of Spain. Key formative projects and their entry to practice in UAE will be analyzed according to the concepts of place identity, the poetics of construction, and material imagination. The poetics of construction, a theoretical position with a long practical tradition, was revived by the British critic Kenneth Frampton. The idea of architecture as a constructional craft is related to the concepts of material imagination and place identity--phenomenological concerns with the creative engagement with local matter and topography that are at the very essence of RCR's way of designing, detailing, and making. Our study situates RCR within the challenges of building in the region, where western forms and means have largely replaced the ingenious responsiveness of indigenous architecture to the climate and material scarcity. The dwellings, iterations of the same steel and concrete vaulting system, highlight the conceptual framework of RCR's design approach to offer a study in contemporary critical regionalism. The Kama House evokes Bedouin tents, while the Alwah House takes the form of desert dunes in response to the temporality of the winds. Metal mesh screens designed to capture the shifting sands will complete the forms. The original research draws on interviews with the architects and unique documentation provided by them and collected by the authors during on-site visits. By examining the two houses in-depth, this paper foregrounds a series of timely questions: 1) What is the impact of the local climatic, cultural, and material conditions on their project in the UAE? 2) How does this work further their experiences in the region? 3) How has RCR adapted their construction techniques as their work expands beyond familiar settings? The investigation seeks to understand how the design methodology developed for more than 20 years and enmeshed in the regional milieu of their hometown can transform as the architects encounter unique characteristics and values in the Middle East. By focusing on the contemporary interpretation of Arabic geometry and elements, the houses reveal the role of geometry, tectonics, and material specificity in the realization from conceptual sketches to built form. In emphasizing the importance of regional responsiveness, the dynamics of international construction practice, and detailing this study highlights essential issues for professionals and students looking to practice in an increasingly global market.

Keywords: material imagination, regional responsiveness, place identity, poetics of construction

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Authors: E. P. Bhowmik, R. Singh

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Certain materials casually thrown away as by-product household waste, such as used tea leaves, used coffee remnants, eggshells, peanut husks, coconut coir, unwanted paper, and pencil shavings- have scope in the hidden properties that they offer as recyclable raw ingredients. This paper aims to explore and experiment with the sustainable potential of such disposed wastes, obtained from domestic and commercial backgrounds, that could otherwise contribute to the field of interior design if mass-collected and repurposed. Research has been conducted on available recorded methods of mass-collection, storage, and processing of such materials by certain brands, designers, and researchers, as well as the various application and angles possible with regards to re-usage. A questionnaire survey was carried out to understand the willingness of the demographics for efforts of the mass collection and their openness to such unconventional materials for interiors. An experiment was also conducted where the selected waste ingredients were used to create small samples that could be used as decorative panels. Comparisons were made for properties like color, smell, texture, relative durability, and weight- and accordingly, applications were suggested. The experiment, therefore, helped to propose to recycle of the common household as a potential surface finish for floors, walls, and ceilings, and even founding material for furniture and decor accessories such as pottery and lamp shades; for non-structural application in both residential and commercial interiors. Common by-product wastes often see their ends at landfills- laymen unaware of their sustainable possibilities dispose of them. However, processing these waste materials and repurposing them by incorporating them into interiors would serve as a sustainable alternative to ethical dilemmas in the construction of interior design/architecture elements.

Keywords: interior materials, mass-collection, sustainable, waste recycle

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Authors: Juan Zhou, Lusan Liu, Yanzhong Zhu, Kuixuan Lin, Wenqian Cai, Yu Wang, Xing Wang

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During the past few decades, there has been an increase in the number of coastal land reclamation projects for residential, commercial and industrial purposes in more and more coastal cities of China, which led to the destruction of the wetlands and loss of the sensitive marine habitats. Meanwhile, the influences and nature of these projects attract widespread public and academic concern. For identifying the trend of landscape (esp. Coastal reclamation) and ecological environment changes, understanding of which interacted, and offering a general science for the development of regional plans. In the paper, a case study was carried out in Bohai Bay area, based on the analysis of remote sensing data. Land use maps were created for 1954, 1970, 1981, 1990, 2000 and 2010. Landscape metrics were calculated and illustrated that the degree of reclamation changes was linked to the hydrodynamic environment and macrobenthos community. The results indicated that the worst of the loss of initial areas occurred during 1954-1970, with 65.6% lost mostly to salt field; to 2010, Coastal reclamation area increased more than 200km² as artificial landscape. The numerical simulation of tidal current field in 2003 and 2010 respectively showed that the flow velocity in offshore became faster (from 2-5 cm/s to 10-20 cm/s), and the flow direction seem to go astray. These significant changes of coastline were not conducive to the spread of pollutants and degradation. Additionally, the dominant macrobenthos analysis from 1958 to 2012 showed that Musculus senhousei (Benson, 1842) spread very fast and had been the predominant species in the recent years, which was a disturbance tolerant species.

Keywords: Bohai Bay, coastal reclamation, landscape change, spatial patterns

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Authors: Man Wai Leung, Margaret O’Donoghue, Lorna K. P. Suen

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Personal and household hygiene measures are important to prevent upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and other infectious diseases, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). An online survey recruited 414 eligible parents in Hong Kong to study their hygiene knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) in the prevention of URTIs among their children. The average knowledge score was high (10.2/12.0), but some misconceptions were identified. The majority of participants agreed that good personal hygiene (93.5%) and good environmental hygiene (92.8%) can prevent URTIs. The average score for hand hygiene practices was high (3.78/4.00), but only 56.8% of parents always perform hand hygiene before touching their mouth, nose, or eyes. For environmental hygiene, only some household items were disinfected with disinfectants (69.8%: door handles, 60.4%: toilet seats, 42.8%: floor, 24.2%: dining chairs, 20.5%: dining tables). Higher knowledge score was associated with parents having a tertiary educational level or above, working as healthcare professionals, living at private residential flat or staff quarter, and having a household income of $70,000 or above. Hand hygiene practices varied significantly with parents’ age and income. During the 5th wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, misconceptions about hygiene knowledge were found among parents. Health promotion programs should target parents, especially those who are in old age, obtain lower educational levels, live in public housing, or have a lower income. Hand hygiene moments and proper use of disinfectants could be one of the targeted educational topics.

Keywords: hygiene, upper respiratory tract infection, parents, children, COVID-19

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Authors: Silvija Šiljeg, Ivan Marić, Ante Šiljeg

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The accessibility of urban green spaces (UGS) is an integral element in the quality of life. Due to rapid urbanization, UGS studies have become a key element in urban planning. The potential benefits of space for its inhabitants are frequently analysed. A functional transport network system and the optimal spatial distribution of urban green surfaces are the prerequisites for maintaining the environmental equilibrium of the urban landscape. An accessibility analysis was conducted as part of the Urban Green Belts Project (UGB). The development of a GIS database for Zadar was the first step in generating the UGS accessibility indicator. Data were collected using the supervised classification method of multispectral LANDSAT images and manual vectorization of digital orthophoto images (DOF). An analysis of UGS accessibility according to the ANGst standard was conducted in the first phase of research. The accessibility indicator was generated on the basis of seven objective measurements, which included average UGS surface per capita and accessibility according to six functional levels of green surfaces. The generated indicator was compared with subjective measurements obtained by conducting a survey (718 respondents) within statistical units. The collected data reflected individual assessments and subjective evaluations of UGS accessibility. This study highlighted the importance of using objective and subjective measures in the process of understanding the accessibility of urban green surfaces. It may be concluded that when evaluating UGS accessibility, residents emphasize the immediate residential environment, ignoring higher UGS functional levels. It was also concluded that large areas of UGS within a city do not necessarily generate similar satisfaction with accessibility. The heterogeneity of output results may serve as guidelines for the further development of a functional UGS city network.

Keywords: urban green spaces (UGS), accessibility indicator, subjective and objective measurements, Zadar

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Authors: Sheam-Chyun Lin, Wei-Kai Chen, Hung-Cheng Yen, Yung-Jen Cheng, Yu-Cheng Chen

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Result from the constant dwindle in natural resources, the alternative way to reduce the costs in our daily life would be urgent to be found in the near future. As the ancient technique based on the theory of solar chimney since roman times, the double-skin façade are simply composed of two large glass panels in purpose of daylighting and also natural ventilation in the daytime. Double-skin façade is generally installed on the exterior side of buildings as function as the window, so there’s always a huge amount of passive solar energy the façade would receive to induce the airflow every sunny day. Therefore this article imposes a domestic double-skin window for residential usage and attempts to improve the volume flow rate inside the cavity between the panels by the frame geometry design, the installation of outlet guide plate and the solar energy collection system. Note that the numerical analyses are applied to investigate the characteristics of flow field, and the boundary conditions in the simulation are totally based on the practical experiment of the original prototype. Then we redesign the prototype from the knowledge of the numerical results and fluid dynamic theory, and later the experiments of modified prototype will be conducted to verify the simulation results. The velocities at the inlet of each case are increase by 5%, 45% and 15% from the experimental data, and also the numerical simulation results reported 20% improvement in volume flow rate both for the frame geometry design and installation of outlet guide plate.

Keywords: solar energy, double-skin façades, thermal buoyancy, fluid machinery

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Authors: Charles Amoo, Joshua New, Bill Eckman

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Buildings in the United States account for a significant proportion of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and this trend is expected to continue as well as rise in the near future. Low-income households, in particular, bear a disproportionate burden of high building energy consumption and spending due to high energy costs. Energy efficiency improvements need to reach an average of 4% per year in this decade in order to meet global net zero emissions target by 2050, but less than 1 % of U.S. buildings are improved each year. The government has recognized the importance of technology in addressing this issue, and energy efficiency programs have been developed to tackle the problem. The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), the largest residential whole-house energy efficiency program in the U.S., is specifically designed to reduce energy costs for low-income households. Under the WAP, energy auditors must follow specific audit procedures and use Department of Energy (DOE) approved energy audit tools or software. This article proposes an expanded framework of factors that should be considered in energy audit software that is approved for use in energy efficiency programs, particularly for low-income households. The framework includes more than 50 factors organized under 14 assessment criteria and can be used to qualitatively and quantitatively score different energy audit software to determine their suitability for specific energy efficiency programs. While the tool can be useful for developers to build new tools and improve existing software, as well as for energy efficiency program administrators to approve or certify tools for use, there are limitations to the model, such as the lack of flexibility that allows continuous scoring to accommodate variability and subjectivity. These limitations can be addressed by using aggregate scores of each criterion as weights that could be combined with value function and direct rating scores in a multicriteria decision analysis for a more flexible scoring.

Keywords: buildings, energy efficiency, energy audit, software

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Authors: Adegoriola Mayowa I., Lai Joseph H. K., Yung Esther H. K., Chan Edwin H. K.

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Heritage buildings (HBs) as structures with historical and architectural relevance that form an integral part of contemporary society. These buildings deserve to be protected for as long as possible to retain their significance. Therefore, the need to prioritize HB maintenance management is pertinent. However, the decision-making process of HBMM can be relatively daunting. The decision-making challenge may be attributed to the multiple 'stakeholders' expectation and requirement which needs to be met. To this end, professionals in the built environment have identified the need to apply the strategic concept of facilities management (FM) in decision making. Furthermore, the different maintenance dimensions have been applied to maintenance management of residential, commercial, and health facilities. Unfortunately, these different maintenance approaches, such as FM, sustainable FM, urban FM, green FM, and strategic FM, are yet to be fully explored in the decision-making process of HBMM. To bridge this gap, this study focuses on developing a framework for strategic decision-making HBMM, which helps achieve HBMM sustainability. At the study's inception, relevant works of literature in the domains of HBMM and FM were conducted. This review helped in the identification of contemporary maintenance practices and their applicability to HBMM. Afterward, a conceptual framework to aid decision-making in HBMM was developed. This framework integrated the concept of FM scope (people, place, process, and technology) while ensuring that decisions plans were made at strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Also, the different characteristics of HBs and stakeholders' requirements were considered in the framework. The conceptual framework presents a holistic guide for professionals in HBMM to ensure that decision processes and outcomes are practical and efficient. It also contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the integration of FM in HBMM. Furthermore, it will serve as a basis for future studies by applying the conceptualized framework in actual cases.

Keywords: decision-making, facility management, strategy, sustainability, heritage building, maintenance

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Authors: Patel Parul, Harsh Ganvit

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The construction industry is the second highest industry after agriculture provides employment in India. In developing countries like India, many construction projects are coming up to meet the demand. On the one hand, construction projects are increasing; on the other hand still, construction companies are struggling with many problems. One of the major problems is to ensure safe working conditions at the construction site. Due to a lack of safety awareness and ignorance of safety aspects, many fatal accidents are very common at the construction site in India. One of the key success factors for construction projects is “Accident-Free Construction Projects”. The construction projects can be divided into various categories like Infrastructure projects, industrial construction and real estate construction. Real estate projects are mainly comprised of commercial and residential projects. In the construction industry, private sectors play a huge role in urban and rural development and also contribute significantly to the growth of the nation. Infrastructure and Industrial projects are mainly executed by well-qualified construction contractors. For such projects, ensuring safety at construction projects is inevitable and probably one of the major clauses of contract documents as well. These projects are monitored from time to time by national agencies and researchers, too. However, Real estate projects are rarely monitored for safety aspects. No systematic contract system is followed for these projects. Safety is the most neglected aspect of these projects. In the current research projects, an attempt is made to carry out safety auditing for about 75 real estate projects. The objective of this work is to collect the activity-based safety survey of real estate projects in western India. The analysis of activity-based safety implementation for real estate projects is discussed in the present work. The activities are divided into three categories based on the data collected. The findings of this work will help local monitoring authorities to implement a safety management plan for real estate projects.

Keywords: construction safety, safety assessment, activity-based safety, real estate projects

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Authors: Habtamu Fufa, Yemane Berhane

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Child under nutrition has long-term consequences for intellectual ability, economic productivity, reproductive performance and susceptibility to metabolic and cardiovascular disease. The unacceptably high prevalence of malnutrition in young children of the region has not changed much over the last decades, which could make the achievement of the corresponding Millennium Development Goals very unlikely. Despite the well-documented problems of child malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is few systematic review of evidences on determinants of child malnutrition in the region. The current available evidence on determinants of child under nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa is systematically reviewed. The method used in searching relevant literature was using bio medical databases PUBMED, Google scholar and the website of the World Health Organization on nutrition using the following key words: "Determinants “, "Child Malnutrition", and "Sub- Saharan Africa". The search was limited to articles published in and after 1995 up to date. In all the reviewed articles, the data were analyzed using multivariate regression analysis and or odds ratios for significance of determinants in child malnutrition. Synthesis of 40 published articles from various countries of the region is done and noted that household economic status, maternal education, disease, breastfeeding practices, age and sex of a child, birth interval and residential areas were found to be determinants of child under nutrition. Poverty remains the main factor of malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa and poor education of parents aggravates the malnutrition through perpetuation of poor nutrition practices. Male children under five years are the most affected ones. Understanding of these determinants of poor nutritional attainment would provide insights in designing interventions for reducing the high levels of child malnutrition in this region. Large-scale multi-sectoral community-based interventions are urgently needed for a sustainable improvement of child nutritional & health status in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: child malnutrition, determinants, Sub-Saharan Africa, health status

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Authors: Noah G. Akhimien, Eshrar Latif

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The natural environment is in need for an urgent rescue due to dilapidation and recession of resources. Passive design strategies have proven to be one of the effective ways to reduce CO₂ emissions and to improve building performance. On the other hand, there is a huge drop in material availability due to poor recycling culture. Consequently, building waste pose environmental hazard due to unrecycled building materials from construction and deconstruction. Buildings are seen to be material banks for a circular economy, therefore incorporating circular economy into passive housing will not only safe guide the climate but also improve resource efficiency. The study focuses on incorporating a circular economy in passive design strategies for an affordable energy and resource efficient residential building in Nigeria. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration is still on the increase as buildings are responsible for a significant amount of this emission globally. Therefore, prompt measures need to be taken to combat the effect of global warming and associated threats. Nigeria is rapidly growing in human population, resources on the other hand have receded greatly, and there is an abrupt need for recycling even in the built environment. It is necessary that Nigeria responds to these challenges effectively and efficiently considering building resource and energy. Passive design strategies were assessed using simulations to obtain qualitative and quantitative data which were inferred to case studies as it relates to the Nigeria climate. Building materials were analysed using the ReSOLVE model in order to explore possible recycling phase. This provided relevant information and strategies to illustrate the possibility of circular economy in passive buildings. The study offers an alternative approach, as it is the general principle for the reworking of an economy on ecological lines in passive housing and by closing material loops in circular economy.

Keywords: building, circular, efficiency, environment, sustainability

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Authors: Rafooneh Mokhtarshahi Sani

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This study explores how the residents of a conserved urban area have used goods and ideas as resources to maintain an enviable architectural identity. Whereas conserved urban quarters are seen as role model for maintaining architectural identity, the article describes how their residents try to give a contemporary modern image to their homes. It is argued that despite the efforts of authorities and decision makers to keep and preserve the traditional architectural identity in conserved urban areas, people have already moved on and have adjusted their homes with their preferred architectural taste. Being through such conflict of interests, have put the future of architectural identity in such places at risk. The thesis is that, on the one hand, such struggle over a desirable symbolic status in identity formation is taking place, and, on the other, it is continuously widening the gap between the real and ideal identity in the built environment. The study then analytically connects the concept of symbolic status to current identity debates. As an empirical research, this study uses systematic social and physical observation methods to describe and categorize the characteristics of settlements in Walled City of Famagusta, which symbolically represent the modern houses. The Walled City is a cultural heritage site, which most of its urban context has been conserved. Traditional houses in this area demonstrate the identity of North Cyprus architecture. The conserved residential buildings, however, either has been abandoned or went through changes by their users to present the ideal image of contemporary life. In the concluding section, the article discusses the differences between the symbolic status of people and authorities in defining a culturally valuable contemporary home. And raises the question of whether we can talk at all about architectural identity in terms of conserving the traditional style, and how we may do so on the basis of dynamic nature of identity and the necessity of its acceptance by the users.

Keywords: symbolic status, architectural identity, conservation, facades, Famagusta walled city

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Authors: Hachaichi Mohamed Nour El-Islem, Baouni Tahar

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Environmental sustainability rather than a trans-disciplinary and a scientific issue, is the main problem that characterizes all modern cities nowadays. In developing countries, this concern is expressed in a plethora of critical urban ills: traffic congestion, air pollution, noise, urban decay, increase in energy consumption and CO₂ emissions which blemish cities’ landscape and might threaten citizens’ health and welfare. As in the same manner as developing world cities, the rapid growth of Algiers’ human population and increasing in city scale phenomena lead eventually to increase in daily trips, energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. In addition, the lack of proper and sustainable planning of the city’s infrastructure is one of the most relevant issues from which Algiers suffers. The aim of this contribution is to estimate the carbon deficit of the City of Algiers, Algeria, using the Ecological Footprint Model (carbon footprint). In order to achieve this goal, the amount of CO₂ from fuel combustion has been calculated and aggregated into five sectors (agriculture, industry, residential, tertiary and transportation); as well, Algiers’ biocapacity (CO₂ uptake land) has been calculated to determine the ecological overshoot. This study shows that Algiers’ transport system is not sustainable and is generating more than 50% of Algiers total carbon footprint which cannot be sequestered by the local forest land. The aim of this research is to show that the Carbon Footprint Assessment might be a relevant indicator to design sustainable strategies/policies striving to reduce CO₂ by setting in motion the energy consumption in the transportation sector and reducing the use of fossil fuels as the main energy input.

Keywords: biocapacity, carbon footprint, ecological footprint assessment, energy consumption

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Authors: Marc Polo, Núria Arbonés Arán

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Amsterdam is considered one of the great European capitals, which concentrates the headquarters of various multinational companies and which, in addition, enjoys a huge tourist attraction. Its typical residential buildings next to the canals, the museums, or its striking "Red Light District" are a great focus of attraction. In 2019 almost 9 million tourists visited it, but few of them traveled to the farthest neighborhood in the city: Amsterdam-Zuidoost (Amsterdam-Southeast). This neighborhood is geographically separated from the urban core, which makes it an exclave of Amsterdam as it does not border any of the other boroughs. Bijlmermeer neighborhood is the largest of the Amsterdam-Zuidoost, and it was born in the 1960s with the expectations of becoming the city of the future. Its main architect, Siegfried Nassuth, was inspired by the Swiss Le Corbusier to design nearly 18,000 homes, most of which were in high-rise tower blocks and built together, forming a recognizable "honeycombed" pattern. For more than 40 years, a series of infrastructure and social vicissitudes have made the neighborhood outline quite different as it was expected to be. It helped also varied elements such as ethnicity, demolitions, or unoccupied apartments. The called “city of the future” became home to immigrants, drug addicts, and vandals, and the conflicts denigrated the Amsterdam-Zuidoost. This work analyzes the evolution of the Bijlmermeer from its origins and illustrates relevant international referents able to help the area. The purpose of the work is to show how different variations along the recent history didn't help enough, but how there are positive perspectives for the future taking advantage of the food as a creative issue. The research, based on academic literature, existing material in different stadiums, plus the analysis of the city imaginaries, will help to concrete relevant elements in terms of innovation, creativity, and disruption. Despite of radical renewal that is taking place, the research will demonstrate that there are still new opportunities for the old Bijlmermeer.

Keywords: amsterdam, bijlmermeer, creativity, food

Procedia PDF Downloads 109