tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66337725816904386392024-03-05T02:16:51.468-08:00Sustainable Built EnvironmentsSustainable Built Environment site with news, ideas, tools, guides and projects within urban sustainability, sustainable buildings, sustainable facilities management, and sustainable materials. adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-49796417296051567142020-10-19T08:25:00.008-07:002020-10-20T10:59:41.148-07:00What Strategies Can Be Used to Improve Neighbourhoods?The Built Environment Sustainability Tool enables the development of sophisticated and responsive plans and strategies to support improved local sustainability. These plans respond to and address gaps and aspects of current poor performance in the neighbourhood while supporting and improving aspects of good performance.A wide range of options should be evaluated before a final selection of adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-65738937887248177072020-10-19T08:23:00.005-07:002020-10-20T10:59:24.034-07:00How Do You Develop More Sustainable Neighbourhoods? Neighbourhoods appear to be complex and difficult to assess in terms of sustainability performance. A review of green precinct assessment tools for urban areas revealed that these tend to focus on environmental issues and did not take into social and economic issues. Many of the tools are also complex and do not encourage the involvement of communities and non-professionals. Also, many adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-21203427688964710022020-10-19T08:18:00.004-07:002020-10-19T08:19:51.787-07:00Updated Built Environment Sustainability Tool The Built Environment Sustainability Tool (BEST) supports an integrated and responsive approach to achieving sustainable neighbourhoods. The tool is based on a holistic approach to addressing sustainability and includes the following social, economic and environmental criteria. ShelterMobilityFoodGoodsServicesWasteBiocapacityHealthEducationEmploymentEach criteria is introduced and simple adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-33690759390507001532020-05-18T22:47:00.003-07:002020-05-18T23:00:45.731-07:00New Course on the Sustainable Building Assessment Tool (SBAT)
Gauge Capability has developed a new course on the Sustainable Building Assessment Tool (SBAT). The course covers the latest version of SBAT Residential and shows how this can be used to guide the development of sustainable housing.
The Sustainable Building Assessment Tool supports an integrated and responsive approach to achieving high sustainability performance in buildings. The tooladminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-59921870135524693592019-11-24T10:24:00.000-08:002019-11-24T10:25:29.466-08:00Onsite service enterprises
Onsite service enterprises (OSEs) are enterprises that develop and maintain systems and facilities that provide services to occupants of a building or a precinct. Examples of onsite services include hot water, energy, lighting, waste and recycling, mobility, food preparation and delivery, childcare, education and personal care. The full capital and operating costs of providing these services,adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-33543372562699801842019-10-19T05:53:00.001-07:002019-10-19T05:53:57.221-07:005 Questions to ask when choosing a building sustainability rating system
There are now many different rating and indicator systems for building sustainability so it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose and distinguish between these.
This presentation, therefore, goes back to first principles and focusses on 5 questions that can be applied to review systems to choose the one most suitable for your situation.
The 5 questions are:
How does the system adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-80021017657067543062018-09-30T04:13:00.004-07:002018-09-30T04:13:47.243-07:00Alternative sanitation for schools
The 2017 National Education Infrastructure Management System report indicated that of the 23,577 public primary and secondary schools in South Africa, there were:
5,175 schools without water or with unreliable water supply
68 schools with no toilets
9,203 schools with pit latrines
7,105 schools with VIPs
2,912 schools with septic tank systems
8,574 schools with flush toilets on municipal adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-39327457977676167902018-09-30T03:55:00.000-07:002018-09-30T03:55:57.111-07:00Urban Ore
Having developed and applied a range of tools to reduce construction waste, such as specifications, contract clauses, construction waste management plans and monitoring and evaluation systems, it is possible to reflect on what works.
Key to achieving less construction waste is having a local network of collaborators who reuse or recycle construction waste. In many areas, these networks are adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-13425199681627139972018-08-16T11:24:00.000-07:002018-08-16T11:24:20.390-07:00Sustainable Neighbourhoods
Sustainable buildings are not enough; they need to be within neighbourhoods that support sustainability. This is being reflected in an increased focus on neighbourhoods.
In the US, a hospital faced with escalating costs associated with the treatment of patients moved beyond its borders to work with neighbours to enhance local facilities which improved health. In 2008, adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-55158759689804529442017-10-27T08:40:00.002-07:002017-10-27T08:40:47.032-07:00Water Assessment In Buildings
The Water Assessment in Buildings (WAB) tool is a methodology and tool for assessing water equipment and systems in buildings. Design appraisals or walk-through assessments of buildings are used to evaluate proposed or existing water equipment and systems in relation to best practice water criteria within the WAB.
The WAB supports effective assessments of water equipment systems to provide adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-73167358695950505672017-10-27T08:39:00.000-07:002017-10-27T08:39:48.100-07:00Water Use Modelling (WUM)
The Water Use Modelling (WUM) tool is a methodology and tool for modeling water use in buildings. Data on water equipment, systems, and usage patterns are entered into the tool to model water consumption patterns in buildings and present this in figures and graphs.
The WUM supports effective modeling of water systems to provide a clear understanding of water consumption implications adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-53533104126576736522017-10-27T03:49:00.000-07:002017-10-27T08:31:09.540-07:00Water Evaluation and Management (WEM)
The Water Evaluation and Monitoring (WEM) tool is a methodology and tool for monitoring and evaluating water use in buildings. Data from utility and/or council accounts or logged water consumption data are entered into the tool to generate water use reports that can be used to evaluate and monitor water consumption in buildings.
The WEM supports effective water use reporting and monitoringadminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-31178887415210102872017-09-10T05:04:00.000-07:002020-05-18T23:05:27.220-07:00SBAT Residential 1.04
The Sustainable Building Assessment Tool (SBAT) Residential 1.04 has been developed. This supports an integrated and responsive approach to achieving high sustainability performance in housing. The tool is based on a holistic approach to addressing sustainability and includes social, economic and environmental criteria. It is easy and cost-effective to use and is particularly relevant to adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-79851190761068835182017-06-18T06:35:00.002-07:002017-06-18T06:35:46.394-07:00Pilots for Change
Article by Mary Constable in Earthworks on Gauge's projects in Zambia. The article reviews the pilot housing projects carried out by Lafarge, Peoples Housing Process, ILO and UNEP in Zambia. The pilots were evaluated using the SBAT tool and useful guidance was developed for future projects.
adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-91544848982288236382017-06-03T22:44:00.001-07:002017-06-03T22:46:22.537-07:00How to achieve water use of less than 100l/person/day
The table and graph above show how water use of under 100l/person/day can be achieved in a house or apartment building. This has been generated using the Water Use Modelling (WUM) tool. This requires the following:
Dual flush efficient toilets
Water efficient shower heads and short duration showers
Efficient use of water for cooking, washing and laundry
Only grey water used for adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-28983865377171300842017-06-03T12:22:00.001-07:002017-06-03T12:57:13.646-07:00Water Evaluation and Monitoring
The Water Evaluation and Monitoring (WEM) tool can be used to track water consumption in buildings. Data from water utilities or water meters is input into the tool to generate tables and graphs which can be used to understand water use patterns. This analysis can be used to track water use against benchmarks and identify opportunities for improved performance. The tool and a short adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-90572368130552479352017-06-03T10:03:00.000-07:002017-06-03T11:45:51.502-07:00How do you reduce water consumption to under 100 liters per person per day?
How do you reduce water consumption to under 100 liters per person per day?
One of the best ways of doing this is to model current water use and then test options to reduce water use in the model in order to decide on the best option(s) to implement. This enables non-cost interventions related to behavior (such as shorter showers) to be implemented, before incurring the significant expense adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-36103038849218165482017-06-03T09:47:00.001-07:002017-06-03T12:55:19.612-07:00Water Evaluation and Monitoring
A new online course by Gauge has been developed to provide skills and tools to monitor and evaluate water use in buildings. It includes a simple water use monitoring and evaluation tool in Excel which can be populated with information from water utility bills or from water meter readings to understand water use patterns within a building over a year as well as water use in relation to adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-25211047103298612092017-05-06T10:49:00.000-07:002017-05-06T10:58:14.014-07:00Sustainable Diets
Increasing incomes and urban growth is resulting in increased consumption of sugars, refined fats, oils, and meats. If this trend continues 80% of the increases in global agriculture greenhouse gas emissions will come from food production and land clearing. These diets also increase Type II diabetes and heart disease.
Alternative diets which reduce emissions and have health benefits can be adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-59086139166419725332017-05-05T05:32:00.001-07:002017-05-07T10:31:13.078-07:00Air conditioning makes pollution worse
A new study shows that the hottest days have the highest air pollution. Increasing air conditioning on hot days results in increased emissions from power plants of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. The study shows that increases in pollution of 3 to 4 percent per degree Celsius can occur. This may be due to partly to the increased use of out-dated and inefficient poweradminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-64274772067022369192017-05-05T05:23:00.002-07:002017-06-03T11:31:20.918-07:00Interactive Capabilities for Health
New research by MIT uses sensors and radio signals to measure gait velocity and stride length of individuals. This provides valuable health indicators for older adults and can be used for health emergencies. However, it can also include interaction capabilities that could encourage walking and other exercises supporting improved health. Paper can be accessed hereadminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-16703734698552635982016-10-18T07:48:00.001-07:002016-10-20T05:33:20.472-07:00Sustainable Goods and Services in Built Environments
Goods and services can be defined as the ‘most basic products of an economic system that consist of tangible consumable items and tasks performed by individuals'.In households, goods and services can be listed as follows (Redefining Progress, 2003)
Goods
Clothes and textiles
cotton
wool
synthetic
Furniture (wooden)
Furniture (adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-82038558022444361472016-10-18T07:25:00.000-07:002016-10-20T05:50:44.573-07:00Sustainable Waste Criteria for Built Environments
Can waste be sustainable? Is it possible to have 'sustainable waste streams'? 'Sustainable waste streams' can be defined as waste streams which enable overall personal Ecological Footprint of less than 1.8gha to be achieved.
Achieving this in households and neighbourhoods can be determined through an analysis of the amount and types of waste produced, the energy intensityadminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-61214277581537349382016-09-29T09:14:00.001-07:002016-09-29T09:17:41.863-07:00Soil Carbon Sequestration
Soil is the biggest reservoir of carbon on the planet after the oceans and holds four times more carbon than all the plants and trees in the world. However, deforestation and industrial farming has degraded this capacity in 40% of all agricultural soils.
New research published in Science suggests that regenerative farming methods including woodland regeneration, no-till farming, cover crops, adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633772581690438639.post-25655180401608079332016-09-23T11:46:00.000-07:002016-09-23T11:46:37.548-07:00Informal Trade
Surveys of Pretoria CBD indicate that the locations of informal trade and the types of goods and products sold, change over the period of day and can be complex.
It is important that support and infrastructure being developed for informal trade understand this. This complexity is being addressed in structured processes to develop integrative infrastructure for informal trade based on the adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10587139096449384828noreply@blogger.com0