Sustainable Construction Assessment 2022

Sustainable Construction 1
BLDG2031 Sustainable Construction:
Assessment 2- Case Study
By (Name)
Course
Professor’s name
University name
City, State
Date of submission

Sustainable Construction 2
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Building background..............................................................................................................3
Performance analysis.................................................................................................................4
Sustainable performance indicators.......................................................................................4
Methodology..........................................................................................................................4
Data presentation and analysis...............................................................................................5
Energy................................................................................................................................6
Weather and climate...........................................................................................................8
Building layout...................................................................................................................8
Internal Environmental Quality (IEQ)...............................................................................9
Sustainability Refurbishment plan...........................................................................................13
Refurbishment plan..............................................................................................................13
References................................................................................................................................16
Appendix..................................................................................................................................18
Appendix 1: Questionnaire..................................................................................................18
Appendix 2: Site Photos.......................................................................................................19

Sustainable Construction 3
Introduction
Sustainability is one of the key aspects of Millennial Development Goals (MDGs) of the
majority of the countries under the United Nations. The topic of sustainability has taken
centre stage more than ever in the past thirty years globally, largely due to the adverse effects
of global warming that have been experienced in many parts of the globe (BRE Center for
Sustainable Construction 2005). As a result, most industries, including the construction
industry have taken measures to ensure the materials, designs and building management
systems are kore environmentally friendly. It has been estimated that the construction
industry contributes at least 17 percent of carbon emissions (Uher 2009). The undesirable
environmental impact of buildings has mainly be contributed by; energy (over 40 %),
building materials (28 %), water use and sewerage disposal (26%), land (11 %) and pollution
emission (Boyle 2009). Majority of the buildings that were constructed over three decades
ago are thus considered unsustainable. As a result, efforts are being made to employ changes
and strategies to improve their sustainable performance. This report that will investigate and
evaluate the performance of building 201, and a sustainability refurbishment produced from
the previously mentioned analysis (Baker 2009). All the information contained in this report,
including the data and recommendations in this report have been researched and documented
by four members that constitute the group.
Building background
The case study building for this report is Building 201. The building has been operation for
more than 40 years. The building frame is made of in situ concrete with masonry infill, and
supports seven storeys. The main function of the building has been an educational facility.
Over its lifetime, it has experienced a number of design changes that have affected the
building performance, especially natural ventilation and air circulation. As a result, the
building heavily relies on HVAC.
All the plans for the building have been provided for in the Appendix.

Sustainable Construction 4
Performance analysis
Sustainable performance indicators
In order to achieve a comprehensive performance analysis, it is paramount to determine the
sustainable performance indicators that will be measured and evaluated. This sub-section will
provide appropriate sustainable performance indicators that were considered for Building
201. Sustainable performance indicators have been defined by (Lombera and Aprea 2010) as
those factors that may affect; use of minerals, acidification, Eco toxicity, eutrophication, land
uses, breathing effects due to organic substances and ironic radiation. From our literature
review, it was observed that numerous construction organisations rank their sustainable
factors in the following order of importance: energy, building materials, pollution, water,
health and wellbeing, ecology and land use, and transport (Abdi Karim 2007).
Due to the location and the function of the building, the most probable pollutants include
smoke, dust and noise from the nearby traffic, littering by the students themselves and, dust
and noise from the neighbouring urban area. The major sustainable performance indicators
include:
 Energy efficiency: How are the building structure, envelope and systems designed to
ensure the optimum use of energy?
 Water efficiency: How efficient are the building’s water circulation and consumption
systems when in operation?
 Materials: How have the choice, design and use of building materials enhanced
environmental protection?
 Indoor environmental quality (IEQ): what are the design strategies that have enhanced
high quality IEQ, with minimal adverse effects to the environment, including but not
limited to; acoustics, indoor air quality, thermal comfort, lighting and ventilation?
 Green features: Has the building adopted any technologies, or green practices or
features that enhance its sustainability?
For the purposes of this report, the above listed factors will be classified into two major
categories: operational and functional performance (AECOM 2012). Operational
performance will focus on the quality of internal environment IEQ while the functional
performance will focus on the effectiveness and efficiency of the building design and
structure, design and envelope such as building materials, energy efficiency, water efficiency
and green features. The building’s energy efficiency will be determined by the sum of
embodied energy and energy consumption. Embodied energy refers to the energy absorbed
within the building, due to exposure of building materials to the sun and other elements while
energy consumption will focus on energy used in production of greenhouse gases, volatile
carbons, particulates and other pollutants (A.S, D.L. and Z. 2009).
Methodology
The research methods that were employed to obtain data include literature review, site
reconnaissance, questionnaires and observation. Literature referenced and analysed from this
report was obtained from the institution’s library, acclaimed proceedings and journals, and
peer reviewed articles. The group members were cautious in ensuring that all the literature
was published within the last two decades, by acclaimed authors and institutions (Industry
2000). The group members undertook a building reconnaissance on 7th October, 2019 to
obtain the necessary data on building performance. Group members took photographs of key
elements to be evaluated in this analysis (Appendix 2). The building’s performance data was
obtained from the facilities manager and the building’s architect. All the operational