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Abstract: Building adaptive reuse plays a critical role in emissions reduction and supports global climate protection. Thus, the designing of future buildings with embedded adaptive reuse potential is a useful criterion for sustainability. This paper describes the development of a new rating tool known as adaptSTAR, which offers holistic and unified design criteria suitable for assessing the adaptive reuse potential of future buildings. The findings show that criteria can be identified and weighted according to physical, economic, functional, technological, social, legal and political categories to calculate an adaptive reuse star rating. In addition, this paper reports on the first stage of the research methodology used in the initial development of the rating tool and concludes with some preliminary observations from 12 selected successful case studies in New South Wales (NSW) and Melbourne, Australia. The use of adaptSTAR in designing future buildings will lead and help promote low carbon built environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To further the sustainability agenda of the building sector, recent research and practice suggest that integrating embodied carbon (EC) in the sustainability assessment of buildings is necessary. This paper presents an investigation to assess whether the consideration of EC in the development approval process (DAP) could enhance sustainable construction (SC). A recent proposal for integrating the assessment of EC in the DAP of building projects in Uganda was used. Structured interviews were used to collect data from construction professionals. Findings show that construction professionals were highly aware of SC, suggesting that initiatives of enhancing SC could be easily appreciated. However, the concept of SC was found to be largely interpreted in terms of environmental sustainability, implying that measures that highly promote environmental sustainability could be adopted. A hypothesis test confirmed that integrating the assessment of EC in the DAP of building projects in Uganda could enhance SC. This provided new evidence to corroborate the assertion that assessment of carbon emissions associated with buildings can enhance sustainable construction. Having further found that social sustainability could be enhanced the most, this study provides new evidence linking the assessment of EC to promoting social sustainability. Recommendations on introducing the assessment of EC in the DAP of buildings in Uganda are also provided. These include taking necessary steps to increase awareness of SC, implementation of a pilot program in a selected area of Uganda, and further research to capture more opinions from stakeholders, other than construction professionals. Overall, this study shows that transition to sustainable low carbon development in developing countries is possible and a potential way of achieving this could be through implementing measures that bring carbon emissions to bear on the environmental impact assessment of prospective buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the household survey of “household energy consumption and living conditions in Beijing”, in this paper, we estimate the determinants of household carbon emissions and its relation to a community's building, neighborhood and location attributes. We find that a community with energy-saving building attributes and with greater amenities in neighborhood significantly reduces the level of residential household carbon emissions. Meanwhile, a community that is far from public facilities tends to increase the probability of car purchase and results in higher transportation carbon emissions. Given the implications these findings have on eco-communities and urban sustainability, we further discuss the importance of the role of a community when conducting ecological studies and its role for designing strategies for urban ecological infrastructure (UEI) planning toward eco-friendly economy and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Delivering low-carbon communities requires an understanding of community practices and technologies, strategies and constraints associated with and accessed by communities. However, little research to date has investigated the application of green technologies as well as green strategies in achieving low-carbon communities. This paper first reviewed low-carbon technologies and strategies in the previous literatures and then examines how these technologies and strategies are addressed in two ongoing low-carbon communities. By comparing the differences of adopting various low-carbon technologies and strategies in the two cases, it is found that green strategies are not as valued as green technologies in the current stage of low-carbon communities in China. The ten One Planet Living principles are not fully considered and comprehensively implemented, and there is also lack of a clear and harmonious inter-sector working mechanism within and between energy, transport, waste management and water management sectors. Recommendations are proposed to provide a vehicle for a more effective and efficient use of green technologies as well as green strategies to reduce carbon emissions in low-carbon communities. Research findings in the study may therefore provide valuable references to guide low-carbon community development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In facilitating the progress towards low-carbon cities, there is no lack of available green technologies, planning techniques, economic tools, social development strategies, etc. These technologies, strategies and techniques have, in fact, long been deployed in many cities and communities around the world. However, the outcomes have been somewhat slow and less than expected. This is also manifested in the lower-than-expectation outcomes of the formation of a meaningful global climate change treaty so far. The barriers have clearly been unveiled as disconnection among the triple bottom lines (TBL) in the approach. By linking the concept of low-carbon cities to sustainable development (informed by the TBL), the paper highlights the implication of misinterpretation of a popular TBL diagram, leading to fragmented, compromised approach to LCC. Cases in point are isolating and excluding social and economic activities that are not environmental friendly, and trading-off environmentally-friendly activities that are not profitable in economic sense. Re-interpretation the popular TBL diagram literally from a three-dimensional lens offers an alternative approach, presented in an integrated framework towards low-carbon cities. The vital factors in the framework are safeguarding the positive dynamic interconnectivities of the three bottom lines, aligning their core values (in contrast to the isolating and excluding exercise), amplifying their common interest (instead of trading-off activities), and deploying strategies from planning, renewable technologies, education and policy making to address multiple and interconnected issues reciprocally. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is well acknowledged that low carbon emissions is one of the key factors contributing to sustainable urban development and effectively tackling climate change. Adaptive reuse of buildings is a form of sustainable urban regeneration, as it extends the building''s life and avoids demolition waste, encourages reuses of the embodied energy and also provides significant social and economic benefits to the society. Thus, it embraces the different dimensions of sustainability. However, the debates over which sustainability factors are key, and how to address them all in practice, remain unresolved. This study begins with an intensive literature review of the factors that contribute to the goal of sustainable development in the conservation of built heritage. This is followed by in-depth interviews with practitioners who have participated in adaptive reuse projects in Hong Kong. These interviews confirm the reliability of the shortlisted sustainability factors. More importantly, this paper examines the challenges in incorporating a sustainability framework into adaptive reuse projects. The authors stress that the framework for achieving sustainable, low carbon adaptive reuse should be viewed more holistically, integrating social, economic, environmental, urban and political policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]