Qatar Green Building Conference 2016 ߝ The Action

I am working with the International Living Future Institute as an Ambassador Presenter, and recently I have become a Collaborative Facilitator in the Ambassador Network, providing educational resources for the Living Building Challenge. The Living Building Challenge is the visionary path to a restorative future, the description of which is provided by the Institute on the organization's website: www.livingbuildingchallenge.org. The Institute describes the Living Building Challenge in the following way.

The Living Building Challenge defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today and acts to minimize the gap between current limits and ideal solutions. This certification program covers all buildings at all scales and is a unified tool for transformative design, allowing us to envision a future that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. Whether your project is a single building, a park, a college campus, or even a complete neighborhood community, the Living Building Challenge provides a framework for design, construction, and the symbiotic relationship between people and all aspects of the built environment. The Institute has provided a very informative and inspiring one-hour PowerPoint presentation for ambassador presenters to use it as an educational tool. As this is a volunteer effort, the program was free of cost. The attendees are also eligible for one AIA/GBCI Learning Unit.

With the aim of diversifying its economy and develop itself as a tourist destination, in recent years, Qatar has hosted many international sports events and will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Doha, Qatar's capital city, is literally under construction, and is facing important changes in terms of transportation, infrastructure, and sports facilities. However, past experiences have shown that the outcomes of staging major sports events are mostly harmful, and their planned legacies last only for a short time. This trend becomes even stronger when considering how sports facilities and their surroundings are utilized after the event is over. Usually, sports venues become white elephants, and their neighborhoods islands of placelessness, underutilized and abandoned pieces of the city. What will be left after the World Cup? How to leverage this event as a moment of experimentation and sustainable growth of its capital city, Doha? In this context, the aim of this research is to identify strategies to plan and maximize the post-event usage of event sites and venues, and make their neighborhoods more livable and sustainable. The research has a specific focus on the city of Doha, which hosted the 2006 Asian Games and will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It starts with a critical review of relevant precedents from the Western and the Eastern world, and then continues with an in-depth analysis of three selected case studies, namely the cities of London, Sochi, and Rio de Janeiro that recently hosted major sports events. Finally, the research focuses on the context of Doha, investigating its public spaces and planning system, and analyzing the government's legacy plans for the 2022 World Cup. The expected results include a set of guidelines and recommendations to help Doha transform its sports venues and event sites into lasting, sustainable, and livable public open spaces, and, more generally, to define strategies for achieving successful legacies from the host of mega sports events. The results of this research can also be applied to other Gulf cities that share many similarities in terms of their urban form and planning systems, and that face for the first time the challenges and opportunities offered by the host of mega events.

The expectations of stakeholders across the construction industry's value chain have evolved significantly in light of a greater understanding of sustainability impacts, scientific trends and new legislation. There is a demand for evidence proving that a wide range of issues are being managed in a systematic way leading to improvements in performance. Designers and specifiers are demanding transparent, reliable data and comparable sustainability information about competing construction materials. Standard setting organisations and building rating systems are advancing in their requirements. Third-party certification bodies have responded with improved certification that enables the provision of data collection, auditing and reporting. The CARES Sustainable Constructional Steel (SCS) scheme is applied to reinforcing carbon and stainless steel, structural steel and hot rolled flat steel. Developed with the inputs from a wide range of stakeholders, the accredited scheme is based on foundations of technical specifications, traceability, product quality and the sustainability principles of inclusivity, integrity, stewardship and transparency.

The assessment of adaptive facades presents a barrier in light of the fact that there are no standard assessment techniques to systematically achieve this goal. Most of the available facade performance evaluation systems or frameworks have limited applicability for such advanced building facades. The complexity involved in the evaluation of adaptive or dynamic facades is related to the performance evaluation of facade elements, systems and overall building performance associated with occupant behavior and occupant satisfaction. In this context, we present a case study of an adaptive sunscreen facade to evaluate its performance and occupant behavior. The evaluation focuses mainly on the pre- and post-construction phases of adaptive facades: the design assist phase (including the durability test, visual mockup, onsite mashrabiya mounting and weather stripping), the commissioning phase (field verification and performance testing) and the monitoring phase. The selected project is a 150-meter-high twin tower that stands with a honeycomb-inspired structure and an automated dynamic solar screen that responds to the sun's movement. These solar screens respond dynamically and automatically to the angle of the sun that improves the control over energy consumption, solar radiation and glare with the ability to allow natural light into the building. This paper is part of the research activities of working group 3 of the European COST Action 1403 on “Adaptive Facades”. Different methods were used for evaluation, which include: interviews with the architect, facade engineer, technical control specialist and occupants; reviews of standards and codes; and reviews of energy models and a systematic design process mapping. A documentation of the case study describing the post-construction occupant comfort and facade operation was prepared. The audience of this paper is mainly project managers, architects, building facade engineers as well as facility managers concerned with the process of design, construction and operation of adaptive sunscreen facades. The outcome of this study identifies quantifiable performance indicators and effective strategies for the design and performance evaluation of optimal adaptive facades.

The aim of this study is to investigate the urban morphological factors that influence urban microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort in hot semi-arid climate. It explores the main features that influence the urban climate on microclimate scale, in addition to the environmental parameters that affect the thermal comfort and its relevant indices (PMV, PPD, PET). The study presents the assessment of outdoor thermal comfort of urban street canyons for selected locations in traditional and modern neighborhoods representing old and new fabrics of the city of Aleppo (Syria). The assessment of outdoor thermal comfort considered field measurements for selected days in the summer period, along with data derived from microclimate simulations for the same locations using ENVI-met numerical models. The outcome of the study shows that different types of urban morphology have different effects on their thermal conditions as the geometry of the canyons investigated has a strong impact on their thermal behavior, and a significant correlation was observed between the aspect ratio and the sky view factor, on the one hand, and outdoor thermal values, on the other.

Minergie is a Swiss quality label for buildings developed to ensure comfort, low energy consumption, and healthy indoor environment. It was introduced in 1995, and, today, about 30% of new buildings are Minergie compliant. The campus of the Swiss International Scientific School of Dubai (SISD) is designed to be Minergie compliant. The campus includes a primary school building, an administrative building, a middle high school (MHS)–library–auditorium building, a sport center, and a boarding house. The primary and the administrative building are built. The sport center is under construction while the MHS building is under development.

Except the sport center, the campus is designed to be Minergie compliant. SORANE SA, along with the design team, conducted the preliminary design of primary school and administrative building to be Minergie compliant. We are currently assisting the design team of the MHS, the library and the auditorium building to achieve Minergie certification.

The design is based on achieving comfort and low energy demand through efficient sun protection, highly insulated and tight envelope, heat and moisture recovery on the ventilation system, as well as optimized daylighting of the occupied space.

The primary school building and the administrative building were built and are the first buildings to be certified as Minergie in the Middle East. The simulation of the primary school building showed that the building following the Minergie standards consumed 80% less than a conventional building in Dubai. Moreover, the building ensured a healthy indoor environment, with stable thermal, visual comfort, and low draught conditions due to the low speed ventilation. More importantly, designing the school following the Minergie requirements did not increase the systems' complexity, but rather resulted in low energy demand that reduced the size of the installations.

In this paper, we describe the design procedure of the buildings from the energy perspective and the challenges that we faced to achieve Minergie certification. Advanced simulations were performed to design the envelope and HVAC systems in order to minimize energy consumption. Daylight calculations and dynamic thermal simulations are also discussed in detail. First, the Minergie label is described briefly, followed by the description of its prerequisites and energy targets. Then, the building envelope design procedure is presented. Finally, the HVAC system design is detailed, and the simulation results of the building consumption are presented.

Introduction: The use of water is a global environmental concern. Understanding factors affecting peoples' behavior is necessary to devise effective water management policies. Water reuse is positively influenced by environmental values, convenience, adequate storage space, simplicity of reuse, feelings of satisfaction when reusing materials, and involvement in society.

Purpose: This paper proposed and tested a conceptual framework to identify the environmental (e.g., attitude toward the environment), situational (e.g., individual knowledge and experience), and psychological (e.g., personality characteristics, perceptions) factors that affect peoples' water management intentions and behaviors in homes.

Problem: Global environmental problems (e.g., water concern) can be effectively addressed by individual lifestyle changes. Unlike reduction and reuse, recycling is not influenced by environmental values; instead, it is viewed as an accepted norm. However, access to recycling facilities or curbside recycling improves participation.

Finding: A strong relationship between intention and behavior was found for all the three water management practices (i.e., reduction, reuse, and recycling). Water reduction was positively influenced by environmental values, increased knowledge of environmental policies, the belief that water is a threat to personal well-being, and feelings of personal responsibility. Older age groups were more likely to reduce water than younger age groups, possibly because they maintained lifestyles developed during their experiences and culture. Ease of recycling (e.g., presence of curbside recycling) was associated with diminished intentions to employ water use reduction and reuse strategies, possibly because individuals who recycled felt they had fulfilled their water management responsibilities. Designers should:

– enact curbside recycling methods and techniques in homes to decrease water use;

– recognize how factors beyond awareness and knowledge (e.g., water values) affect water management practices;

– understand that different household water management practices (i.e., reduction, reuse, and recycling) are influenced by different factors (e.g., environmental attitudes).

This paper presents the value of people and sustainable minds in Lean transformation for achieving green business development. Human resources management is one of the main reasons for the success or failure of organizations. Therefore, adding value to their work processes and eliminating waste will reflect on the profit of the whole firm, and will accordingly reflect on the development and sustainability of the whole construction industry. The role of human resources in implementing a new process is not only at work but in people's lives as well by changing their mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors sustaining the continuous improvement. This research is divided into two parts: theoretical and practical. The theoretical part will explain Lean concept definition, values and wastes, benefits, challenges faced, and steps for successful implementation. It will also provide a clear vision on how to choose Lean champions and Lean coordinators at any organization. The practical part will present a case study for a successful Lean transformation in a design/construction firm, showing the effect of implementing Lean on people's minds, behavior, and work attitudes and how it affects projects, as well showing the roles and responsibilities of different human resources in that Lean transformation and a clear method and steps for Lean implementation in construction organizations based on a company's experience and observations reducing wastes and adding value to every single work process within the organization achieving the three-part goal of better, cheaper, and faster projects.

Background: At the European level, there are two main frameworks for determining the environmental impacts of building solutions, i.e. EN 15804:2012+A1:2013 and EN 15978:2011 (sustainability of construction works, environmental product declarations, core rules for the product category of construction products and calculation method), and the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) developed by the European Commission (EC DG Environment). Each of these frameworks has its own goal and corresponding methodological choices. Although the EN standards have their main focus on the built environment, they only consider seven environmental impact categories while several scientific studies have indicated the need for a broader environmental perspective, especially when assessing the environmental performance of buildings. In 2013, the European Commission published the PEF methodology. The aim of proposing the EU-wide PEF methodology is to measure the environmental performance of products and to encourage Member States and the private sector to take them up. The PEF methodology considers 14 environmental impact categories that are not only specifically developed for the construction sector.

Assessment framework for the environmental performance of building elements and buildings:

VITO and KU Leuven have developed a framework for specific use in the Belgian building context with the aim to get insights into the environmental performance of different kinds of building element variants and buildings as a whole. That framework deviates from the EN standards and includes a broader list of environmental impact categories (PEF). Up until now, it has helped to gain insights into the environmental performance of building materials (to be) used in Belgian building (element) solutions. After proving its added value through different policy and design-oriented research projects, the assessment framework was updated in 2015 to comply with the EN standards and latest evolutions on PEF. The main difference between this assessment framework and the European framework lies in the calculation of aggregated scores through environmental external costing. By doing so, the environmental performance of building elements and buildings can be expressed by one figure, which makes decision-making processes more straightforward. A comparative study proves that the assessment framework is a valuable alternative for the EN standards and in agreement with the PEF framework. The development of user-friendly designer and policy instruments to assess Belgian buildings is the next major development step to be taken.

Presentation at the QGBC Conference 2016:

The presentation at the QGBC Conference 2016 conference will focus on the methodology development. In addition, the presentation will illustrate the application of the methodology by presenting some results of the main important building element variants. By November 2016 when the QGBC Conference 2016 will take place, it is expected that the first results of the development of the designer tool for architects and building contractors and the policy supporting tool for the Belgian government will be ready for presentation.

The presentation at the QGBC Conference 2016 will focus on the importance that the Belgian clay roof tile and brick sector attaches to sustainability aspects that are related to their business and products, and focuses on a recently performed LCA (life cycle assessment) and EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) project. This project is part of a broader platform, where the three pillars of sustainability finally meet each other. During the presentation at the QGBC Conference 2016, first, I will present the incentives of the sector to apply the concept of life-cycle thinking to modern business practices, with the aim to manage the total life cycle of their products and services towards a more sustainable construction and housing. Then, I will focus on the results of the LCA in which four clay products are analysed from the cradle to the grave: clay roof tiles, traditional clay blocks, newly developed clay blocks and facing bricks. The results have been summarised in EPDs. Additional comparative studies have also been carried out to benchmark the clay products versus main competing materials, at the building element level, i.e. roofs and walls. Special emphasis will be given during the presentation to the importance of LCA for the clay sector, the sector approach, the procedures for data collection, the importance of stakeholder involvement, the results of the LCAs and the comparative assessment.