While the increasing rate of urbanisation is a critical concern for socio-environmental reasons, this also leads to more extraction of natural raw materials and the generation of significant ...quantities of construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Although the use of recycled C&D waste products is technically feasible and regulated, and positive application examples are evident, it is still unclear how to engage key stakeholders to leverage this opportunity in construction projects. Previous research has shown that there is some level of resistance to the reuse of recycled C&D waste products in construction projects. This highlights a critical need to identify the roles of key stakeholders and the barriers they face when using recycled C&D materials. This paper therefore investigates the type of stakeholders influencing the use of recycled C&D waste products and the main factors affecting stakeholders’ decisions to use recycled C&D waste products through a systematic literature review. The authors present an emergent enablers and barriers for recycled C&D waste products model and provide commentary on how stakeholders’ perceptions, decision and behaviour influence the use of recycled C&D waste products. The authors also contribute to the body of knowledge with insights into the factors that various stakeholders believe influence the market for recycled C&D waste products and provides a reference point for authorities to consider these behavioural insights for policy reform.
•This paper presents the critical analysis of literature on thermal adaptive strategies in outdoor spaces.•These strategies include environmental and technological modifications, behavioural ...adjustments and psychological adaptation.•The outcome of this review is expected to inform policies governing urban developments and management of outdoor spaces.
Urbanisation has replaced vegetation and natural spaces with hard and impervious surfaces and this transition in cities has led to a sequence of adverse events in urban ecosystems across the world. The use of outdoor spaces is highly dependent on climatic conditions. Thermally uncomfortable outdoor spaces may discourage participation in outdoor activities and increase indoor energy consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to understand and adopt thermal adaptive strategies to provide appropriate thermal conditions for urban residents. A number of studies that review the literature on different thermal adaptive strategies exist. However, these reviews lack comprehensiveness, often present results which are mixed with simulation and field studies, recommended strategies suitable for certain climate conditions or are not properly structured. Therefore, this study intends to present a critical analysis on the thermal adaptive strategies that are advisable for outdoor spaces. This review is structured around the Adaptation to Outdoor Climate (AOC) model containing three clusters of adaptive strategies: (a) “environmental and technological modifications”, (b) “behavioural adjustments”, and (c) “psychological adaptation”. Reviewing mostly recent studies, this paper aims to shed light on the cutting-edge knowledge on improving outdoor thermal comfort conditions.
Cities are hubs of social and cultural activity, and culture is key to what makes cities creative, and sustainable. The Post-2015 Development Agenda has prioritized culture and how it may help people ...and communities create the future they desire. The study aims to determine the link between cultural heritage and urban sustainability and how multidisciplinary education can help organize urban issues. The article is of relevance to the emerging multicultural urban society with wide socio-economic disparities straining the global urban resilience and posing a challenge for future policy implementation. A systematic literature review was conducted using the Dimension database, and the results were analyzed using VOS viewer. The study also employed the PRISMA quantitative approach for selection criteria. This paper has identified understudied themes including community heritage, sustainable urban governance, and behavioral and multidisciplinary approaches. It is strongly felt that undertaking this study will not only add to the literature in cultural heritage study but also help further multidisciplinary and knowledge-based inquiry, which is currently evolving in the academic domain. Therefore, urban academics have a duty to resolve the issue confronting global urban sustainability and cultural disputes. Future research is required to simplify the current complex issue to make it more relevant and inclusive.
•Current procedures to assess outdoor thermal comfort present limitations.•Adoption of theoretical framework can partly remove these limit and provides several benefits.•Application of theories to ...outdoor thermal comfort data is inadequate.
Traditional methods to process comfort data are constantly criticised due to their inability to provide an explanation for thermal satisfaction achievement. Theories, however, seem to present a solution to this growing issue. Therefore, this study aims to review how the efforts made in the existing literature can benefit from theoretical frameworks to understand comfort data. The results showed the usage of theories in outdoor thermal comfort research is very limited. Furthermore, from the three categories identified for classifying these theories (personal, environmental and behavioural) personal based frameworks are most widely used. The results have shed light on our understanding of thermal satisfaction in outdoor spaces. It is expected the findings will contribute to developing thermal comfort standards that are specific to outdoor settings.
Perception of Wind in Open Spaces Shooshtarian, Salman; Rajagopalan, Priyadarsini
Climate,
09/2019, Volume:
7, Issue:
9
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Dense urbanization influences the livability of cities. Changes in local meteorological conditions can be adverse for human health and well-being. In urban open spaces, it is widely known that ...changes in building density and configuration in cities influence wind speed (Va). This influence modifies latent heat flux between the human body and surrounding environment and thereby affecting the thermal comfort conditions in open spaces between buildings. Several studies have demonstrated the significant effect of wind speed on outdoor thermal comfort. Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD) has recently experienced dense urbanization and this pattern of development has instigated noticeable changes in meteorological conditions. Some evidence has suggested that the patterns of wind flow induce thermal discomfort during cool seasons. Conversely, the wind is most welcomed during warm seasons. This study was conducted to assess outdoor users’ responses to Va in three open spaces of an educational precinct in Melbourne’s CBD. The open spaces studied are different in terms of design and function. Users’ responses and meteorological conditions were examined through a series of field measurements and questionnaire surveys from November 2014 to May 2015. This study used three perceptual scales to analyze participants’ experience of Va during field surveys: “Bedford preference”, “thermal sensation” and “personal acceptability”. Analytical results yielded the wind perceptual comfort thresholds for different seasons as well as the entire study period. The results suggested that in addition to the geometry of the urban open space, the function of place could influence people’s perceptions of Va. The research findings contribute to developing thermally comfortable outdoor environments.
The social dimensions of sustainability’s three bottom lines are often overlooked in the construction industry. This is despite attempts to find optimal trade-offs between economic growth, ...environmental impacts, human health and well-being, as well as social considerations. This study reviews the literature on social sustainability (SS) within the construction arena, identifies research gaps and proposes a forward-looking research agenda. This critical review employes the ‘Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses’ (PRISMA) technique to retrieve secondary data on SS from available academic, government and industry documents. The literature analysis focuses on seven themes: (1) definition of SS, (2) the theoretical dimensions of SS, (3) primary stakeholders, (4) policy and guidelines, (5) major SS performance indicators, (6) barriers to SS uptake in the construction industry, and (7) SS drivers in the construction industry. The review identifies primary stakeholders and proposes a list of assessment criteria that can be used by the construction industry in measuring progress towards SS. The study proposes a conceptual model that maps out key stakeholders, the major barriers, and enablers of SS in construction projects. The findings will support the development of SS guidelines specific to the construction industry in Australia as well as overseas.
Assessment of outdoor thermal comfort requirements is of primary importance in the development of sustainable outdoor environments, including urban precincts. The full understanding of thermally ...comfortable outdoor conditions requires investigating other factors that are beyond the thermophysiological aspect of thermal comfort, including those contextual factors that are contextually impacting people's thermal judgment. Using a socio-ecological system model (SESM) as the research framework, this study aimed to investigate the role of physical environmental factors (i.e. weather conditions, including solar radiation intensity and design descriptors, such as sky view factor and aspect ratio, length of residence, and time of exposure) and psychological environmental factors (i.e. users' overall comfort and thermal preference, purpose and frequency of visit, seasonal change, thermal history, consideration of weather forecasts, character and features of place, and naturalness). The data used in this study were collected during three rounds of field surveys consisting of on-site measurements and questionnaire surveys. The field surveys were conducted in three case study sites, which are on the premises of an educational precinct in Melbourne, Australia, from November 2014 to May 2015. The analytical results demonstrated a medium and low influence of physical and psychological factors on outdoor thermal sensations, respectively. The research outcome has shed light on those aspects of thermal comfort that are yet to be fully understood in outdoor spaces.
•Using socio-ecological system model, this study has investigated the role of contextual factors in creation of outdoor thermal sensations in an educational precinct.•The results demonstrated the partial influence of contextual parameters (i.e. physical and psychological parameters) on thermal sensation and proved that the extent of this influence changes with season.•Study provided the evidence for occurrence of thermal adaptation among survey population.
This study aimed to understand the role of thermal expectations in achieving thermal comfort in outdoor spaces. Three open spaces in an educational precinct located in the temperate setting of ...Australia were selected as case study sites to explore how thermal expectations may affect people's thermal responses to outdoor micrometeorological conditions. Three types of data collection methods including questionnaire survey, field measurement and on-site observations were employed to collect thermal comfort information in three consecutive seasons (November 2014, February 2015, and May 2015). Three measures of thermal satisfaction (preferred temperature, neutral temperature, and acceptable thermal range) extracted from people's thermal preferences and sensations were used to analyse the field survey data, determine thermal comfort requirements, and examine thermal stress in the study context. A multi-model theoretical framework was then adopted to explain the pattern of thermal satisfaction among the target population. This framework consisted of three models: “Socio-ecological system model (SESM)”, “theory of Alliesthesia” and “theory of rising expectations”. The study demonstrated the efficiency of above-mentioned framework to explore thermal comfort requirements in an educational precinct. Overall, the results challenged the validity of equivalency of thermal neutrality and thermal satisfaction enshrined in comfort standards in the study context.
•This study aimed to understand the significance of thermal expectations in achieving thermal comfort.•A multi-model theoretical framework was adopted to explain the pattern of thermal satisfaction among the target population.•Overall, the results obtained in this study challenged the equivalency of thermal neutrality with thermal satisfaction.•The results determined the boundaries of thermal stress conditions for three seasons in an Australian education precinct.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of public opposition (PO) to the siting of construction and demolition (C&D) waste management facilities in Australia. A qualitative case study ...of PO to the development proposal for the Gunnedah waste facility, in the state of New South Wales (NSW), was conducted. The waste facility is promised to process up to 250 kilotons of waste materials, much of which is C&D waste intended for use in road constructions after processing. Using a content analysis approach, the study analysed 86 public submissions that were lodged within the allocated development application exhibition period to systematically analyse the arguments used by the submitters about the establishment of the facility. The case study revealed five broad perceived risk classes to the siting of the Gunnedah waste facility, namely location, environmental, human health, financial and process risks. It was also shown that while not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) attitudes may have played a part in the PO to the sitting at the facility, the PO was heavily affected by the poor public participation process. The study outlines key strategies for an effective public participation process that may assist with the management of PO to the siting of C&D waste management facilities in Australia. The study contributes to the theory and practice of effective C&D waste management, enhancing the social acceptance of such facilities toward a more circular economy in the built environment.
This research is concerned with understanding the degree of human thermal (dis)comfort in connection with the various microclimates present in the vicinity of bike trails in Balneário Camboriú/SC, ...Brazil, throughout the summer. Local Climate Zones were determined using the Sky View Factor and were identified along research routes and schedules at 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on a subtropical summer day (14 January 2022). Data were collected with weather devices attached to the bicycle, measuring air temperature, relative humidity, and globe temperature, from which the mean radiant temperature was calculated. The PET and UTCI indices were used to assess outdoor thermal comfort in the summer. The findings revealed that at 9:00 a.m., the eastern half of the city had a higher tendency for thermal discomfort; however, at 4:00 p.m., this same location had thermal comfort for users along bike routes. At 4:00 p.m., the PET index indicated that 24% of the bike paths were pleasant, and the UTCI index indicated that 100% of them were in thermal comfort. At 9:00 a.m., the majority of the city was under discomfort conditions. The index values reflect the morning time, and the study shows that there is now a negative correlation between the SVF and the indexes, which means that the greater the SVF computations, the lower the values are. The PET and UTCI indices revealed a positive association in the afternoon period: The greater the SVF values, the higher the PET and UTCI indices. Further research should be conducted in the future because many parameters, such as construction, position, and urban (im)permeability, as well as sea breeze and solar radiation, can have a significant impact on outdoor human thermal comfort in Balneário Camboriú, and when combined with the type of LCZ and the SVF, it is possible to understand how all of these active systems interact and form microclimates that are beneficial to bike path users.
PDF
