Evaluating Sustainable Development in the Built Environment

Future Challenges in Sustainable Development within the Built Environment stimulates and reinterprets the demands of Responsible and Sustainable Development in the Built Environment for future action and development. It examines the methods of evaluation, the use of technology, the creation of new models and the role of human factors for examining and developing the subject over the next twenty years.

Sustainable development has been characterised by an emphasis on environmental issues and an ad hoc approach to structuring the subject which hinders the development of knowledge in a systematic way. The built environment contributes significantly to the environment but is also one of the major factors in determining whether a community is sustainable in the longer term. A structure is required which aids definition, provides a common set of values, establishes measurement methods to define progress, and suggests a management system and decision protocol which enables practitioners to engage and use the resultant structures and information. This book provides a suggested structure in which all aspects of sustainable development can be included together with a set of evaluation techniques which can be used within the structure to provide assistance to decision making.

Brings together leading thinking on issues of new professional practice and on the future of a sustainable built environment This book focuses on both construction and development issues, and examines how we can transition to a sustainable future by the year 2050—bringing together leading research and practice at building, neighbourhood, and city levels. It deftly analyses how emerging socio-economic, technological, and environmental trends will influence the built environment of the future. The book covers a broad spectrum of interests across the scales of buildings, communities and cities, including how professional practice will need to adapt to these trends. The broader context is provided by an analysis of emergent business models and the changing requirements for expert advice from clients. Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment to 2050: A Foresight Approach to Construction and Development features chapters covering: data and trends, including historical data and UK and international case studies; policies and practice related to the field; current state of scientific understanding; key challenges; key technological advances (including disruptive and systemic technological innovations); change issues and critical uncertainties; and future visions. It provides: A strong conceptual framework based on a ‘Foresight' approach Discussion of the key data and trends that underpin each chapter Coverage of both construction and property development Specially commissioned chapters by academics and practitioners A synthesis of the main findings in the book and key insights for the future to 2050 Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment to 2050: A Foresight Approach to Construction and Development is an important book for postgraduate students and researchers, construction, real estate and property development specialists, engineers, planners, architects, foresight and futures studies specialists, and anyone involved in sustainable buildings.

Water management is a key environmental issue in controlling of floods and reducing droughts. This book provides analysis of the main issues, offering solutions and describing good practice. Water Resources for the Built Environment: management issues and solutions develops an appreciation of the diverse, complex and current themes of the water resources debate across the built environment, urban development and management continuum. The integration of physical and environmental sciences, combined with social, economic and political sciences, provide a unique resource, useful to policy experts, scientists, engineers and subject enthusiasts. By taking an interdisciplinary approach, water resources issues and impacts on the built environment are presented in the inventive and strategic setting of considering the constraints of delivering potable water to an ever-demanding society who, at the same time, are increasingly aware of living in an urban landscape where excessive surface water creates a flood threatened environment – hence, the need to portray a balance between ‘too little vs. too much’. This unique approach to the water resources debate presents a multifaceted collection of chapters that address the contemporary concomitant issues of water shortage and urban flooding and proffers solutions specifically for the built environment. The book is structured into three parts: the first part (Sections 2, 3 and 4) addresses management issues and solutions to minimise water shortages and provide water security for society; whilst the second part of the book (Sections 5 and 6) addresses management issues and solutions to control excessive rainfall and minimise flooding impacts. The third part (Section 7) contextualises the issues of the earlier sections within international case studies from the developing world.

After WWII, the United States of America proposed their way of life, based on an unlimited consumption of land, goods, and energy, as a model for the entire world. Nowadays, this expansionist model has reached its limits. This book provides a comprehensive study of the geographical basis of the American settlements, assuming that part of the U.S. overshooting is related to geography because of harsh climates and the continental size of the Nation, but another part is the result of a cultural habits of expansion and segregation. Urban Sprawl, for instance, is the real Achille's heel of America, because it challenges the cultural revolution required by sustainability. From the continental physiography to the New Orleans – Katrina case, this book explores these issues with maps and charts created with the help of a nationwide multiscalar GIS.

This book provides a bridge between the introductory research methods books and the discipline-specific, higher level texts. Its unique feature is the coverage of the detailed process of research rather than the findings of research projects. Chapter authors have been carefully selected by their expertise, discipline and location to give an eclectic range of perspectives. Particular care has been taken to balance positivist with interpretivist approaches throughout. The authors focus is on the practical consequences of research philosophies, strategies and techniques by using their own research and by evaluating the work of others. Advanced Research Methods in the Built Environment addresses common topics raised by postgraduate level researchers rather than dealing with all aspects of the research process. Issues covered range from the practicalities of producing a journal article to the role of theory in research. The material brought together here provides a valuable resource for the training and development of doctoral and young researchers and will contribute to a new sense of shared methodological understanding across built environment research.

This ground-breaking text looks at the ways of integrating sustainability aspects into science and engineering. In providing an all-round sustainability education, it teaches students within engineering and environmental science the implications of their decisions on the environment. Taking a life cycle approach to address economic, environmental and social issues, the book presents a series of practical case studies drawn from a range of industrial sectors, including water, energy, waste, chemicals, glass and mining and minerals. The key features of the book include: Case studies that provide real-world and practical examples for readers to work through Coverage of various sustainability issues in both developed and developing countries Exploration of the scientific and technical aspects of each issue together with consideration of the economic, environmental and social ramifications Sustainable Development in Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists is essential reading for all engineers and scientists concerned with sustainable development. In particular, it provides key reading and learning materials for undergraduate and postgraduate students reading environmental, chemical, civil or mechanical engineering, manufacturing and design, environmental science, green chemistry and environmental management. This book’s accessible style also makes it of interest to the general reader who is engaged with the sustainability debate. Visit the NEW Companion Website, offering comprehensive tutor's notes for each case study: http://www.wileyeurope.com/go/azapagic

From the book’s Foreword by Trevor Mole, Managing Director, Property Tectonics; President of the European Association of Building Surveyors and Construction Experts: ‘Shu-Ling and Martin have built on their research work and that of others to produce an understandable and readable insight into innovation in small professional service firms. They have successfully unravelled the complex behavioural and organisational forces taking place and created a framework to help practitioners understand the issues and to fashion the right environment in which to foster innovation and deliver economic value.’ Small professional practices in the built environment are crucial to the success and long-term viability of the design, construction and property industries. This research-based book addresses the urgent need to better understand the nature and process of innovation in these important firms. The authors offer an analysis of both why and how innovation is a key competitive factor for small professional practices in the built environment. As these practices are located in different business environments and behave in different ways to other types of industry firms, the context-specific methodology to design, implement and assess innovation in small professional practices presented in this book will appeal to researchers and practitioners in surveying and design. Innovation in Small Professional Practices in the Built Environment makes a significant contribution to an underdeveloped area of innovation by offering new theoretical and practical insights and models grounded in results from a 22-month case study of a small professional practice.

The physical upgrading of the existing domestic and industrial building stock to improve energy performance is an essential part of a transition to a low carbon society. Successfully retrofitting buildings to improve energy performance is not simply a technological challenge, it is a complex socio-technical problem that needs to be addressed in a co-ordinated way, utilising skills and knowledge from a range of industrial and academic backgrounds. Within both the academic and practitioner communities there is a growing understanding of the scale and nature of the problem, one which encompasses issues such as policy and regulation, people and behaviour, supply chain and process, as well as issues of technology. Retrofitting the Built Environment discusses the factors that impact on the retrofit problem, providing a clear analysis of the main issues that the academic and industrial communities must engage with to resolve the problems of domestic energy and retrofit. The book is divided into four broad sections: Understanding the Problem Policy and Regulation Implementing and Evaluating Retrofit People and Communities Academic and industrial researchers, policy makers and industry practitioners will find each section covers a mix of policy, technical and social science issues, presented by both academic and industry authors, giving a wide and detailed perspective of the issue. The Editors Will Swan is a Senior Lecturer in Buildings Retrofit in the School of the Built Environment at the University of Salford. He leads a number of projects in the field of sustainable retrofit, covering a number of topics including monitoring, behaviour and retrofit project delivery, as part of Salford’s Applied Energy and Buildings Research Group. He sits on the Greater Manchester Buildings Group and also is Chair of the Retrofit Innovation Group. Philip Brown is Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Salford Housing & Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU) at the University of Salford. He is the lead academic on end-use energy demand within the Applied Energy and Buildings Research Group, and sits on Greater Manchester’s Low Carbon Economic Area group for Customer Engagement.

The multi-disciplinary perspective provided here offers a strategic view on built environment issues and improve understanding of how built environment activities potentially induce global warming and climate change. It also highlights solutions to these challenges. Solutions to Climate change Challenges in the Built Environment helps develop an appreciation of the diverse themes of the climate change debate across the built environment continuum. A wide perspective is provided through contributions from physical, environmental, social, economic and political scientists. This strategic view on built environment issues will be useful to researchers as well as policy experts and construction practitioners wanting a holistic view. This book clarifies complex issues around climate change and follows five main themes: climate change experiences; urban landscape development; urban management issues; measurement of impact; and the future. Chapters are written by eminent specialists from both academic and professional backgrounds. The main context for chapters is the developed world but the discussion is widened to incorporate regional issues. The book will be valuable to researchers and students in all the built environment disciplines, as well as to practitioners involved with the design, construction and maintenance of buildings, and government organisations developing and implementing climate change policy.