Research Project Sample - Management in Non-Domestic Buildings

1.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, a general background to the research is illustrated and highlights the importance of the research. The motivations for the research are discussed, the aim and objectives of the research are established and the structure of the thesis is also provided.

1.1.1 CARBON EMISSION AND THE BUILDING SECTOR

Information from the Australian Greenhouse Emissions Information System (AGEIS) for 2015 indicates that the building sector constitutes 37% of the Australian energy consumption and 32% of the Australian CO2 emissions.

According to Hannam (2017), the use of building energy in Australia is estimated at 34% of the total energy consumption, which amounts to “550.4 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent, excluding land use changes such as land clearing”. Aside domestic buildings, non-domestic buildings accounts for about 13% of the total CO2 emissions in Australia and this was largely as a result of 2.8% rise in pollution coming from industrial processes and 2.5% rise in pollution attributed to the agriculture sector (Hannam, 2017). These data are alarming because even with 0.8% annual increase for non-domestic buildings, the country will miss its 2030 targets (Slezak, 2016). The facts provided showed that Australia can meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target through building refurbishment.

1.1.2 BUILDING REFURSHMENT: BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES

A sustainable building refurbishment provides opportunities including solving climate change through energy-saving interventions and also to reduce cost for businesses. According to Cohen and Bordass (2015), when energy performance of non-domestic building is made mandatory, an estimated amount of £2.4 billion per annum could be saved by businesses in Australia. Again, about 15% of the country’s total cost of energy which is wasted as a result of poor energy efficiency could also be saved (Energy Matters, 2017). To make sustainable building refurbishment attractive to businesses in Australia, it is important to consider occupants’ satisfaction and productivity.

The economic and environmental benefits of building refurbishment have attracted a lot of interest in Australia. Research have indicated that, interventions to improve buildings’ performance and achieving progress in the area of building refurbishment have failed to fully translate into reality. In Carbon Trust (2011) view, in-use energy consumption in buildings can be more than 5 times as compared to what is predicted. The energy performance gap or credibility gap according to Bordass et al. , (2004) occurs as a result of inadequate feedback to or from the designers after the building has been occupied. However, the introduction of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is said to reduce the “gap” and enables designers to receive feedback on a completed project. Preiser & Vischer (2005) stated that, POE can also be used to assess occupants’ satisfaction and productivity. A problem with the POE is that it does not indicate clearly who should pay for POE and who should conduct it. For this reason, Boardass et al (2004) mentioned that majority of building designers do not supervise how their projects are performing after completion. Thus the assumptions made by them at design stage could not be assessed. Menezes et al, (2011) stated that, energy “performance gap” results from inaccurate assumption about factors including built quality, occupants’ behavior, management and control of the building and its services and lack of feedback.

1.2 BACKGROUND OF PROJECT

This section provides a background to the research topic. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Halcrow Company are the founders of this research.

1.2.1 TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENTS (TSBE)

TSBE which was established in 2009 is specialized in Engineering Doctorate (EngD) programs. TSBE with support from ESPRC provides academics and industrial experts on climate change related issues. With the use of expertise of knowledgeable academics, TSBE assist industries in Australia to develop their research topics.

1.2.2 HALCROW

Halcrow is a company involved in global development of infrastructure and building through planning, design and management services. Halcrow initially proposed the research topic; however, the researcher reduced it in order to fill the knowledge gaps in the literature review. In this section, a discussion of the knowledge gap will be introduced.

Records indicate that, in September 2010, there was relocation of employees from Vineyard House (VH), Shortlands (SH) and the previous Headquarters (HQ) to a newly refurbished 5-storey leased Headquarters building and Elms House (EH). The move from VH is a result of factors such as poor environment, energy performance, rigid and ineffective layout. Another reason was that the environments of VH were not in conformity with the company’s corporate social responsibility and sustainable development strategies. The company’s corporate sustainability activities and communication is centered on climate change, sustainable communities and water scarcity (Halcrow, 2010). In view of this, Helcrow takes EH as a case study to develop ways of improving operational energy performance of refurbished non-domestic buildings and also to maintain occupants’ satisfaction and productivity.

It should be noted however that, the refurbishment of EH was completed under restricted budget because of the recent financial crisis. As a result, the decision to install solar panels at EH by the project board members’ was hugely affected. This was after a research on the viability of installing solar panels at EH was presented to the project board members’. Agha-Hossein et al (2011) indicated that, the solar panels were possible to be used; however, it was not attractive financially to the decision makers at that period. Baird, (2010), Baird et al, (2012), Thomas, (2010) also stated that, none of the studies of POE on environmentally sustainable buildings indicated how budgetary constraints can be reduced in building refurbishment and their performance on low cost energy saving interventions and the aspects of the buildings with most effect on occupants’ productivity and well-being. On the basis of the knowledge gap, no study indicates that POE has correlation between some aspect of the workplace including physical conditions and others and the positive effects on energy consumption and occupants’ satisfaction, productivity and well-being. The researcher considered the study of the role of occupants on energy saving and the effects associated with the provision of feedback on occupants’ energy-related behavior. This was done as to indicate a low cost energy saving intervention. In this area also, knowledge gap was also tested to on a separate grounds in order to identify how or to what extent to include interactivity on the basis of other route of ELM found in energy feedback system can have effect on occupants’ targeted behavior.

One importance of the knowledge gap is that it provides important contribution to academic knowledge. It will also help the company in the design and planning of future building refurbishment projects which will have close descriptions of the conditions to EH in the area of technical and budgetary constraints.

1.3 PROJECT AIM AND OBJECTIVES

This thesis is aimed at investigating the importance of building refurbishment and how it can be used to minimize energy consumption in non-domestic buildings and also to improve occupants’ satisfaction and productivity. The research will focus on the introduction of refurbishment as an opportunity in direct energy saving-interventions and also refurbishment as an opportunity to improve occupants’ satisfaction and productivity through the provision of adequate or sufficient work environment. The researcher will also investigate how occupants’ energy-related behavior can be inculcated without any form of intrusion into their everyday life or work activities. The first part of the study focused on the evaluation of the performance of the current refurbished EH and it was successfully conducted by collecting variables including energy, information on environmental and employee satisfaction and conducting various POEs. In the second part of the study, the researcher concentrated on inculcating occupants’ energy-related behavior through interactive feedback interventions. This section was also conducted by collecting information on energy and behavior. The data collected on behavior was through the use of interviews and surveys.

The three (3) main research questions which support the aim of the research are stated below:

Question 1: What are the issues that confront Buildings’ performance in operation, “performance gap” and how these issues can be identified and address?

Question 2: Can the measures in energy savings be applied in building? The introduction of energy savings will serve as refurbishment, minimize energy consumption of buildings, maintaining occupants’ satisfaction, perceived productivity and well-being.

  1. Is it possible to disempower employees by minimizing their control over environment save energy so that there would not be any negative effects on employees’ satisfaction, perceived productivity and well-being?
  2. In predicting employees’ perceived productivity and well-being, which variable is important in the work environment?

Question 3: How can persuasive feedback interventions or energy saving intervention come close to building occupants’ energy-related behaviors?

The table below provides a summary of the aim and objectives of the research and also answers the above questions.

Table 1.1: Projects’ Aim and Objectives

Project AimThe aim of the project is to investigate how building refurbishment can help to reduce operational energy consumption in non-domestic buildings while improving occupants’ satisfaction and productivity.
Objective 1 Objective 2 Objective 3
The first objective is to evaluate performance of the building in terms of energy consumption, physical environment and occupants’ satisfaction and productivity The second objective is to investigate the cause of performance gap and suggest potential solution. The third objective is to investigate how people respond to energy saving feedback interventions and to what extent can the interventions help to reduce energy consumption.

1.4 RESEARCH DESIGN

This research was done by initially conducting an in-depth literature review on building performance evaluation and occupants’ behavior. The researcher also conducted different POEs by the use of interviews and surveys, half hoAvailable at:y electricity meters or sub-meters and invoice on monthly gas. In collecting data on the environment, the researcher used temperature and humidity monitoring devices, CO2, air velocity and lux level measuring equipment. The data collected by the researcher was used to make analysis of research question 1 and 2 in section 1.3 stated above. The researcher also developed and tested the interactive feedback intervention to change occupants’ energy-related behavior. Pre and post-test interviews and surveys were designed and carried out by the researcher in two case study buildings. The researcher used sub-meters and people counter beams to collect data on electricity and behavior. The researcher used data collected from this study to answer research question 3 in section 1.3 stated above. The researcher obtained ethics approval process during the research. Chapter 4 and 5 will discuss in details research design for each part of the study.

1.5 THESIS STRUCTURE

This section illustrates how the research questions in section 1.3 relate to the aim and objectives and the structure of the thesis. Table 1.2 below demonstrates the aim and objectives in each of the chapters.

Table 1.2: Thesis Structure

Aim Chapter Title Objectives
Introduction to the thesis 1. Introduction The objective is to give a general background to the research, importance of the research, aim, objectives, the research questions and introduces the structure of the thesis.
Literature review to find the knowledge gap NB: This will address objective 1 and 3 and research question 1 and 3. 2. Literature review The objective is to understand the current situation of Australia’s non-domestic buildings’ performance. Obtain an understanding about the importance of POEs Understand how occupants’ energy-related behavior can be nudged.
Justification of the selected research method needed to address the knowledge gap. NB: This will address all the three objectives 3. General Research Methods The objective is to achieve the research aim and objectives through the development of reasonable plan needed to conduct the research.
Evaluation of the performance of building after the refurbishment. NB: This will address objectives 1 and 2 and questions 1 and 2. 4. A case study on buildings’ performance gap Understand the nature of case study building associated with occupancy pattern, physical conditions and energy consumption. Evaluate the performance of building against HQ Identify solutions to the issues building’s performance
Investigate the effects of interactive feedback intervention on occupants’ energy-related behavior and energy consumption. NB: This will address objectives 3 and question 3 5. Persuasive feedback in motivating energy-saving behavior and its effects Develop interactive feedback interventions Test and evaluate effects of interventions in different buildings with different populations.
General Discussion NB: This will address all three objectives 6. General discussion Discuss research findings Identify research contribution into current literature and industry
Conclusion NB: This will address the research questions 7. Conclusion Summarize key findings Highlight research limitations. Suggest further research.

References

AGEIS (2015). National Greenhouse Gas Inventory - Kyoto Protocol classifications. Retrieved September 16, 2017 from http://ageis.climatechange.gov.au/SGGI.aspx

Cohen, R. & Bordass, B. (2015). Mandating transparency about building energy performance in use, Building Research & Information, DOI: 10.1080/09613218.2015.1017416

Energy Matters (2017). Energy consumption in Australia. Retrieved September 16, 2017 from https://www.energymatters.com.au/energy-efficiency/

Hannam, P. (2017). Australia's carbon pollution soars, government data shows. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved September 16, 2017 from http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/australias-carbon-pollution-soars-government-data-shows-20170804-gxpd71.html

Slezak, M. (2016). Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are rising and forecast to miss 2030 target. The Guardian. Retrieved September 16, 2017 from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/22/australias-greenhouse-gas-emissions-are-rising-official-figures-show