http://hdl.handle.net/10204/898 Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:11:50 GMT 2013-06-20T01:11:50Z http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6064 Title: South Africa’s climatic zones: today, tomorrow Authors: Conradie, DCU Abstract: To design energy efficient buildings using an optimal combination of passive design strategies it is necessary to understand the particular climate designed for. To use energy simulation software such as EnergyPlusTM, EcotectTM or DesignBuilderTM to calculate building energy consumption or undertake a predictive thermal simulation of naturally ventilated buildings requires a detailed set of specially structured electronic weather data files such as the epw, tmy and iwec formats widely available in the U.S.A. Unfortunately there is a lack of these in South Africa. On the EnergyPlusTM website there are only two weather files available for South Africa in contrast to 1 479 for the U.S.A. If the MeteonormTM software is acquired a further 34 directly measured meteorological stations (weather files) are available for South Africa. Weather files for in between locations in the software mentioned are created by means of sophisticated interpolation formulas. Recently the South African SANS 204-2 standard introduced six main climatic zone region map in an attempt to inter alia establish the maximum energy demand and maximum energy consumption in the design of a particular building. This was a first step to introduce a more quantified view of climate regions into the South African National Building Standards. The question is raised whether this approach is adequate to optimally support medium to long term design decisions within the built environment for simulating and quantifying passive design strategies such as natural ventilation, thermal mass and passive solar heating. As a first stage to address this shortcoming it was decided to create a highly detailed climatic map of South Africa using 20 years of precipitation and temperature data using a Köppen-Geiger climatic classification to provide better general insight than the six-zone model. After this the predicted climate change over the next 100 years expressed as Köppen categories was researched. Description: International Green Building Conference and Exhibition: Future Trends and Issues Impacting on the Built Environment, 25-26 July 2012, Sandton, South Africa Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6064 2012-07-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3386 Title: Environmental impacts of construction materials use: a life cycle perspective Authors: Ampofo-Anti, N Abstract: To place construction on a truly sustainable path the green building movement needs a method which goes beyond subjective checklists of green features. Such a method must provide objective guidelines for a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts of a product (or service). The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) concept previously known as Life Cycle Analysis has emerged as one of the most appropriate tools for assessing product-related environmental impacts and for supporting an effective integration of environmental aspects in industry, business and the economy. LCA is distinguished from Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in that whereas the former involves environmental accounting the later is concerned with economic value. The primary application of LCA in the built environment professions is to inform design decisions, in particular, provide quantitative data to guide the selection of construction material, construction component and building system combinations which will reduce the life cycle environmental impacts of a built facility. While the decisions made throughout the building life cycle will influence the impact it can have on the environment, materials choices made in the pre-use phase commit the major environment impacts which occur in the use phase. Environmental concerns, for instance potential contributions to Climate Change must therefore be addressed side by side with more traditional concerns such as thermal comfort, health, safety, cost and maintenance from the planning and design stages Description: Author Posting. Copyright Green Building, 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Green Building for personal use, not for redistribution Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3386 2009-02-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3364 Title: Building information modelling (BIM) Authors: Conradie, D Abstract: The concept of a Building Information Model (BIM) also known as a Building Product Model (BPM) is nothing new. A short article on BIM will never cover the entire filed, because it is a particularly complex filed that is recently beginning to receive a lot of attention. The idealistic goal of a BIM has been to provide a single building model capable of being used throughout the process (Howard et al., 2007). This chapter provides the definition of BIM, differences between 3D models and BIM and its potentials Description: Copyright: 2009 Green Building Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3364 2009-02-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3312 Title: Energy generation Authors: Osburn, L Abstract: Current perceptions conjure images of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines when green building or sustainable development is discussed. How energy is used and how it is generated are core components of both green building and sustainable development. However, with current technologies and current South Africa building practice, on site building energy generation is highly ineffective and is a financially wasteful means of reducing CO2 emissions. Unfortunately, photovoltaic panels and wind turbines are images that the public at large associates with green building and oftentimes these measures are financed as they are clearly observable interventions and then the construction project will be perceived within public domain as a green building Description: Copyright: 2009 Green Building Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3312 2009-02-01T00:00:00Z