Buildings

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GUEST OBSERVATION 
Worldwide, buildings are responsible for 19% of greenhouse gas emissions and our cities are responsible for up to 70%. 
So, designing buildings that produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions is vital to help limit global warming and the threats it poses. But we also need to ensure buildings are designed and constructed to cope with our changing climate conditions to bolster their longevity.
This means the construction sector has a significant role to play in mitigating and adapting to climate change. 
The urgency of rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions was highlighted in the bleak prognosis from the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/">special report</a>.
The IPCC report, released earlier this year, states that “limiting global warming to 1.5C would require rapid, far reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”.
This includes changes in the way cities currently function, including land use, energy, industry, buildings, and transport.
<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132318302191">Our research</a> identifies several barriers inhibiting the construction industry’s response to adapting to climate change. 
The current regulatory framework is a key hurdle that many stakeholders within the Australian construction industry raised in our interviews. The <a href="https://www.abcb.gov.au/ncc-online/NCC">National Construction Code</a> doesn’t explicitly address climate change. 
Updating the regulations is an opportunity to set new benchmarks for the industry. The National Construction Code and its associated standards need to be reviewed and strengthened to ensure climate change adaptation and mitigation are addressed.
In the absence of any updated regulations, another barrier is the lack of client demand for buildings to be designed and constructed to address climate change. This sits alongside the perceived additional cost of building and including these mitigation and adaption measures.
Yet many people we interviewed say better regulation to address climate change would be beneficial. This would create a ‘level playing field’ for the industry and encourage innovation in the sector.
Significant climate change impacts will happen within the lifecycle of buildings that are being constructed now. So it’s important to design for these changes today. 
For example, considerations need to be made now to ensure gutters and drains are built to a size that can cope with bigger rainfall events, and to ensure that our homes stay cooler for longer during increasingly hot summers.
Unless we rapidly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we will all face significant and catastrophic impacts including increasing drought periods, a spike in the number of extreme heat days, increasing rainfall intensity, and a rising number of extreme events like floods, cyclones, and bushfires. 
These changes will influence the way our economy and society function.
To limit warming to 1.5 degrees (above pre-industrial levels) by 2100, and to limit climate change impacts, we need to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions, fast – to 50% by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. 
As the IPCC’s special report says, achieving this goal will require a rapid transformation of our urban infrastructure systems including transport, the layout of our cities, and the design and construction of buildings. 
If we construct buildings that are unable to withstand future weather conditions, we’ll need more electricity to heat and cool our homes and work places.
But where we build will also be important; the further out, the more likely we’ll see more transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, like travel modes for work and leisure. We will need to facilitate city growth on sites that aren’t vulnerable to future risks such as sea level rise. 
In addition, risk to operational capacity and building obsolescence will become key considerations for owners and occupiers alike, requiring forward planning and construction of buildings to withstand and cope with future challenges. 
Australia is going through a significant period of population growth. This translates to a large volume of construction, like dwellings and associated urban infrastructure, which is underway in many parts of the country.
It’s critical the construction code is updated to ensure that new buildings going up now address the changes we know are occurring and will continue to escalate in the future. 
Ignoring future climate change in construction is likely to end with many buildings and infrastructure projects becoming redundant, expensive to run or maintain, or even uninhabitable. This creates a plethora of problems for current and future generations.
Our research found all disciplines involved in creating a built environment have a role to play in addressing climate change – architects, urban designers, planners, engineers, builders and constructors are all integral to making a change.
Understanding how these sectors integrate and influence each other, and how they operate within policy and regulatory frameworks, is crucial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and so limit the harsh consequences of irreversible climate change.
The research was conducted by Dr Anna Hurlimann, Professor Valerie Francis, Dr Georgia Warren-Myers and Dr Geoff Browne from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning. It was funded by The Multiplex Research Program Award.
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We need to modify how we build cities for a changing climate

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Buildings in Australia account for over 50% of electricity use and almost a quarter of our carbon emissions but the failures, frailties and fragmentation of the construction sector have created a major obstacle to long-term reductions. 
Reducing our carbon footprint plays second fiddle to the multibillion-dollar work of replacing flammable cladding, asbestos and other non-compliant materials and ensuring buildings are structurally sound and can be safely occupied.
Buildings – whether residential, commercial or institutional – do not score well under the nation’s main emissions reduction program, the A$3.5 billion <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/climate-solutions-package" target="_blank">Climate Solutions Package</a>. This is intended to help meet Australia’s 2030 Paris Agreement commitment to cut emissions by 26–28% from 2005 levels.
This climate fund has very successfully generated offsets under the vegetation and waste methods – these projects account for <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/climate-solutions-fund-aims-to-way-exceed-paris-targets-20191107-p5389w" target="_blank">97% of Australian carbon credit units</a> issued. But <a href="https://www.hvacrnews.com.au/news/buildings-to-the-rescue-for-erf/" target="_blank">built environment abatements have been very disappointing</a>.
Australians have <a href="http://climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au/facts4paris-australias-capita-emissions-remain-highest-among-its-key-trading-partners" target="_blank">very high emissions per person</a>. That’s partly due to how we use our buildings.
Our states and territories control building regulations. This year the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) <a href="http://coagenergycouncil.gov.au/publications/trajectory-low-energy-buildings" target="_blank">set ambitious energy-reduction trajectories</a> for buildings out to 2022 and beyond. This was to be achieved through amendments to national codes and implementing energy-efficiency programs.
<h2>Making the best use of our buildings</h2>
Last month, the Green Building Council and Property Council launched a policy toolkit, called <a href="https://new.gbca.org.au/news/gbca-news/making-every-building-count-industrys-practical-plan-lower-emissions-and-deliver-practical-savi/" target="_blank">Making Every Building Count</a>. The councils urged governments to adopt practical plans to reduce emissions in the building sector.
The toolkit contains no fewer than 75 recommendations for all tiers of government. These are the result of work done through industry and university research partnerships in places like the <a href="http://www.lowcarbonlivingcrc.com.au/" target="_blank">Low Carbon Living Collaborative Research Centre</a> – now disbanded after its seven-year funding ended.
Most energy-efficiency studies and programs focus solely on the operational aspect of buildings, such as the energy used to heat and cool them. However, various studies have proved that the energy and emissions required to manufacture building products, even <a href="https://theconversation.com/pink-batts-not-a-scandal-but-not-as-good-as-claimed-10213" target="_blank">energy-saving products such as insulation</a>, can be just as significant.
A more holistic approach is to look at the embodied energy already in our building stock, which then poses a <a href="https://www.adelaidereview.com.au/form/2019/06/25/book-extract-the-impact-of-overbuilding-on-people-and-the-planet/" target="_blank">serious question about our consumption</a>. So, besides aspirational codes for net zero-energy buildings, we should be asking: can we meet our needs with fewer new buildings?
In Melbourne, for example, an estimated <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/melbourne-s-60-000-vacant-houses-uncovered" target="_blank">60,000 homes are sitting unused</a>. Commercial property has very high vacancy rates – <a href="https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/retail-woes-blow-through-iconic-melbourne-strips-20190813-p52gi9" target="_blank">up to one in six premises are unoccupied</a> in parts of the city. This points to a less-than-effective market in valuing our embodied carbon emissions in property.
If we are to get serious about reducing emissions, we need to tackle inefficient space use.
<h2>Empowering people to cut emissions</h2>
In occupied commercial buildings, some evidence suggests most building managers are grappling with complexity and challenging tenant behaviours. They also don’t get the clear information they need to continually <a href="https://tfespecialreports.com.au/energy-efficiencys-big-secret-a-major-retrofit-of-performance-can-be-surprisingly-affordable/" target="_blank">improve their building’s performance beyond a selected benchmark</a>.
In residential property, home energy performance is very much in our own hands. So we need to consider the means, motivations and opportunities of households, which I did in my <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/220478" target="_blank">doctoral study</a>. A major barrier is that most of us don’t even know what we are getting when we buy or rent an ageing stock of more than 9 million homes.
Europe and the United States moved to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/buy-sell-your-home/energy-performance-certificates" target="_blank">mandatory residential energy disclosure</a> at point of sale and lease well over a decade ago. If you rent or buy a home in these countries you get an energy performance certificate. It identifies emissions intensity and gives advice on how to operate the home more efficiently and hence with lower emissions.
In Australia, we have just sat on a commitment made by <a href="https://www.coag.gov.au/sites/default/files/communique/2009-04-30.pdf" target="_blank">COAG back in 2009</a> to introduce a nationwide scheme.
Size matters, too. Residential space per person is <a href="https://www.commsec.com.au/content/dam/EN/ResearchNews/2018Reports/November/ECO_Insights_191118_CommSec-Home-Size.pdf" target="_blank">high by international standards</a>. Although McMansions are on the wane, our <a href="https://www.afr.com/property/residential/mcmansions-no-more-as-house-sizes-shrink-20191108-p538oi" target="_blank">apartments are getting a bit bigger</a>. The average size of freestanding houses built in 2018-19 shrank by 1.3% from 2017-18 to a <a href="https://www.commbank.com.au/guidance/newsroom/commsec-home-size-trends-report-201911" target="_blank">17-year low of 228.8 square metres</a>.
And we are putting more solar on our roofs as a carbon offset. As of September 30 2019, Australia had more than <a href="https://pv-map.apvi.org.au/analyses" target="_blank">2.2 million</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-photovoltaic-solar-energy-12924" target="_blank">solar photovoltaic</a> (PV) installations. Their combined capacity was over 13.9 gigawatts.
However, the trend towards high-rise living is not helpful for emissions. <a href="https://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/solar-for-strata-apartment-blocks/" target="_blank">Solar for strata apartments is tricky</a>.
I recently worked with colleagues in Australia and overseas in a <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-04293-6_40" target="_blank">study</a> of the user experience of PV. We found residents face a range of issues that limit emission reductions. These issues include:
<ul>
<li>initial sizing and commissioning with component failures such as faulty inverters</li>
<li>lack of knowledge about solar and expected generation performance</li>
<li>regulatory barriers that limit the opportunity to upgrade system size.</li>
</ul>
Looking to improve regulations and codes and billion-dollar funds may be sensible ways to meet emission targets, but human empowerment is the secret weapon in improving energy performance and lowering emissions. Good low-carbon citizens will help create good low-carbon cities.
A set of clear guides on how to use a building is a good starting point. The <a href="http://builtbetter.org/lowcarbonguides/" target="_blank">low-carbon living knowledge hub</a> provides these.
What will make every building count in lowering emissions is the behaviour of occupants, the commitment of owners to make their buildings low-carbon and building managers’ ability to become more adept at reducing building-related emissions.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126930/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/timothy-oleary-685735" target="_blank">Timothy O'Leary</a>, Lecturer in Construction and Property, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-melbourne-722" target="_blank">University of Melbourne</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-every-building-count-in-meeting-australias-emission-targets-126930" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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Making every building count in meeting Australia’s emission targets

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We've recently seen adventure retailer Kathmandu open the first Green Star accredited retail store in Australia, which is to be shortly followed by Collins Street Wharf's new development on the waterfront.
But what exactly is the Green Star initiative?
The Green Star rating system comes from the Green Building Council of Australia.
The Green Star rating tools rewards sustainability outcomes and encourage moving beyond standard practice.
Ratings can be achieved at the planning phase for communities, during the design, construction or fitout phase of buildings, or during the ongoing operational phase.
The ratings are broken down in to six star categories.
<a href="/images/2016/03/31/The%20green%20star%20rating%20scale.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge </a>
 <img src="/images/2016/03/31/The%20green%20star%20rating%20scale.jpg" alt="">
The system assesses the buildings, fitouts and communities against a range of environmental impact categories.
It also aims to encourage leadership in environmentally sustainable design and construction, showcase innovation in sustainable building practices and consider occupant health, productivity and operational cost savings.
In June, diversified property group Frasers Property Group (rebranded last year from Australand), who are now controlled by Singapore-listed Frasers Centrepoint, secured the first ever sustainability rating for a portfolio of properties.
Not to be confused with Kathmandu's claim for the first ever retail store, the portfolio applies to a group of 54 commercial and industrial properties.
Australand now has 1.3 million square metres of Green Star-certified space, more than double any other company in Australia.
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What is a Green Star rating?

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The increasing use of Big Data could drastically change facilities management in commercial real estate and the operations of the future workplace, according to JLL.
This will include the emergence of intelligent buildings with the ability to better manage and prevent issues, increase sustainability for owners, and technologies that allow staff to engage with the buildings and influence their surroundings in new ways.
Big Data is the term given to extensive sets of data that are of a size, diversity and complexity that require new techniques and advanced analytics to manage and extract valuable insights from them.
“Ninety percent of all the data we have in the world today was created only in the last two years. Today we create about six exabytes of data every day, whereas all the data produced on the planet up until 2003 only totalled about five exabytes,” said JLL’s director of corporate solutions Rajiv Nagrath.
He said all types of organisations are increasingly relying on analytical tools to generate data-driven insights that enable better decisions and improve operations.
In buildings, a major contributor of Big Data are the Internet of Things (IOT) devices.
IOT is the term given to the vast network of automated pieces of hardware that are individually connected to the internet, enabling them to collect and exchange data all the time. 
"By 2020 there will be an estimated 26 billion internet-connected devices in addition to about seven billion laptops, tablets and smartphones," he said.
“Hundreds of thousands of these IOT devices will be located in commercial buildings, constantly creating huge volumes of data points to make sense of managing the buildings efficiently and effectively.
Various sensors, controllers and other IOT enabled devices will revolutionise how buildings operate and make the truly intelligent building a reality.
“Most modern buildings today are already provisioned with such advanced devices and technologies, having about 5,000 to 10,000 points connected to the Building Management System - already a high number of devices that act together, and a large volume of data that needs to be collected, analysed and acted upon.
"If we have the right analytic tools, Big Data offers us the chance to find the patterns and identify the correlations and causes of malfunction,” he said.
Big Data and IOT will also impact the way facilities management (FM) and the modern workplace could operate.
“Workplace models are shifting towards increasing choice and flexibility, which not only means changes for the staff, but also for the building owners and managers. One key shift the IOT will have on FM will be the integral role Wi-Fi will play in controlling the office environment, and the intimate level of control each individual could have over their immediate space and surroundings.
“Where once we had a simple passive infrared sensor (PIR) detector switching off the lights in a meeting room, we will have situations where all of the lights will have a movement detector and each light fitting will be addressable.
"Individuals will be able to set their own lighting and space temperature preferences all via an app on their smart phone.
"This will add another layer of complexity for facilities management previously not witnessed in the commercial property sector.
Nagrath, who recently presented on the relationship between Big Data and Facilities Management at a conference in Perth, said another effect of Big Data and IOT on FM would be the shift towards a central command centre model for managing a portfolio of buildings, instead of standalone building management systems.
While most modern buildings already incorporate a standalone building management system that controls some of the systems such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning and emergency generators, it was no longer the best solution, he said.
“What we are seeing more often is that due to changes in resourcing and skill levels, it is no longer efficient for someone to be constantly monitoring the performance of the building at an individual site level.
"It is much more efficient to channel all of the information from those systems back to a central 24/7 command centre to monitor, analyse performance and detect failures and anomalies.
"Command centres increase efficiencies because they can monitor many buildings, staff can conduct in-depth analysis, and it can leverage powerful software to run algorithms over a huge amount of data.
"Our experience is that in most buildings you can improve sustainability and save 10-15% in energy costs once you connect it to a command centre too.”
JLL has been implementing such models for a couple of years now.
Nagrath said that while the concept of a command centre was not new, it had taken a while to gain traction in the FM sector.
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