Editorial

Citation

Lavy, S. (2013), "Editorial", Facilities, Vol. 31 No. 3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2013.06931caa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Facilities, Volume 31, Issue 3/4

This issue of Facilities presents six papers that focus on sustainability and energy conservation efforts in buildings.

A study by Yu aims to determine if the operation of chiller systems in subtropical regions accounts for increased electrical consumption. The researcher investigated and analyzed current efficiencies of chillers and pumps in an institutional building in Hong Kong, and compared input and output variables using the system coefficient of performance. The fine-tuning of specific temperature variables resulted in an almost 15 percent energy savings, while the existing technical efficiency of the facility was found to be 0.85. The study looked at the adjustment of input variables as identified by the coefficient of performance and predicted by the data envelopment analysis. This study demonstrates a systematic method that can be used to evaluate energy effectiveness of a chiller system, and to identify energy management opportunities involving little or no capital investment.

Chileshe, Khatib, and Farah seek to find out if the tenants of a high-rise public housing feel the recent sustainable refurbishment has improved their way of life and sense of security. A survey was given to the residents of three tower blocks in London and interviews were conducted to get a well-rounded idea of the resident’s perceptions. Findings show that the tenants were more comfortable with the idea of refurbishing the building rather than demolition for sustainability reasons. Overall, tenants were satisfied with the sustainable refurbishment, as they found themselves having an improved lifestyle with sense of security improved and improved social behavior; in addition, a better sense of community had developed after the refurbishment. Through refurbishment, there was a cost savings, a positive community impact, and time and materials were saved, unlike if demolition had been chosen.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a hot topic among building designers and construction professionals. Wong and Fan study the contributions that BIM can make to the production of sustainable building design from the perspective of design performance and improved communication and coordination. Research methodology included design tool analysis and structured face-to-face interviews. In-depth study on ECOTECT, a BIM-based analysis tool, was also carried out. The major finding of this research paper is that BIM is ideally appropriated to the delivery of information enabling improved design and building performance. Today, there are over 30 green building rating systems throughout the world; the more integrated BIM becomes with the best parts of these systems, the better tool it will be in helping the designer understand the implications of his design decisions.

A paper by Jamaludin, Mahmood, Keumala, Mohd Ariffin, and Hussein evaluates twelve different residential colleges located at the University of Malaya Campus in Kuala Lumpur, and presents the potential of reduction in electricity use. The main method of research in this paper was through an energy audit, with energy consumption data being collected and analyzed for a five-year period. Then, the potential of the energy savings was determined through the difference between average total usage per year and the minimum electricity usage. In order to design, build, and even refurbish buildings, research such as this is needed to identify potential savings in electricity use. This study can also be used as a baseline data for residential buildings in tropical regions, particularly on current electricity usage and potential for energy conservation.

The use of public funding to manage a building portfolio has always been questioned as to the value it provides. Junghans presents a new model in response to a need for public authorities to improve their ability to assess the energy efficiency of their entire building stocks, focusing on management of public building portfolios. The proposed model combines multiple methods for gathering data by analyzing a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative measures for each building within the portfolio. The data compares the current building state against achievable building conditions and looks for buildings with the greatest potential for improvements in energy use. The proposed model provides significant opportunities to not only improve the physical conditions of the buildings, but also the overall portfolio while utilizing public funds to the greatest advantage. It is able to assist in analyzing the energy efficiency of a real estate portfolio versus just a single building, therefore addressing the concerns of public authorities.

Sarel Lavy, PhDCo-Editor