Vivian W. Y. Tam – författare

Sustainable Construction Technologies: Life-Cycle Assessment provides practitioners with a tool to help them select technologies that are financially advantageous even though they have a higher initial cost. Chapters provide an overview of LCA and how it can be used in conjunction with other indicators to manage construction. Topics covered include indoor environment quality, energy efficiency, transport, water reuse, materials, land use and ecology, and more. The book presents a valuable tool for construction professionals and researchers that want to apply sustainable construction techniques to their projects. Practitioners will find the international case studies and discussions of worldwide regulation and standards particularly useful.

Life-Cycle Cost Models for Green Buildings: With Optimal Green Star Credits illustrates the tools and methods for developing a life-cycle cost model that incorporates developer constraints while maximizing the number of credit points achieved. The book identifies the interdependencies among various credits in the Green Star environmental rating system. Afterwards, life-cycle cost is calculated by considering six main central business districts (CBDs) of Australia. The net present value (NPV) technique is used to calculate life-cycle costs. Further, a sensitivity analysis is also carried out for selected credits to identify the changes to life-cycle cost to the changes in discount rate.

Once all the life-cycle cost data is calculated, this book illustrates the development of the proposed model using a Java application which allows users to evaluate each key criterion of green buildings separately. The book is designed to provide ample knowledge of the various options available to get green building certification and the further implications in-terms of life-cycle.

This book develops a model to evaluate and assess life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions based on typical Australian commercial building design options. It also draws comparisons between some of the many green building rating tools that have been developed worldwide to support sustainable development. These include: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) by the Building Research Establishment, Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE) by the Japanese Sustainable Building Consortium, and Green Star Environmental Rating System by the Green Building Council of Australia.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA), life-cycle energy consumption, and life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions form the three pillars of life-cycle studies, which have been used to evaluate environmental impacts of building construction. Assessment of the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of buildings is one of the significant obstacles in evaluating green building performance. This book explains the methodology for achieving points for the categories associated with reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the Australian Green Star rating system. The model for the assessment uses GaBi 8.7 platform along with Visual Basic in Microsoft Excel and shows the relationship between the building’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions released during the lifetime of the building. The data gathered in the book also illustrates that the green building design and specifications are becoming more popular and are being increasingly utilized in Australia. This book is important reading for anyone interested in sustainable construction, green design and buildings and LCA tools.