Design and commission a zero-carbon building for hot and humid climate

Ng, Trevor S. K.; Yau, R.; Lam, Tony N.T.; Cheng, Vincent S

doi:10.1093/ijlct/ctt067

Cited by 22 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Typical air movement around 0.17‐0.44 m/s is found inside ZCB when the windows are opened. When the ZCB is naturally ventilated, it provides a minimum air exchange rate of six air changes per hour under the tested condition as described previously, which is approximately 10‐fold higher than when the ZCB is mechanically ventilated.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Airborne bacterial assemblage in a zero carbon building: A case study

Leung

Tong

Tong³

et al. 2017

Indoor Air

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Currently, there is little information pertaining to the airborne bacterial communities of green buildings. In this case study, the air bacterial community of a zero carbon building (ZCB) in Hong Kong was characterized by targeting the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Bacteria associated with the outdoor environment dominated the indoor airborne bacterial assemblage, with a modest contribution from bacteria associated with human skin. Differences in overall community diversity, membership, and composition associated with short (day-to-day) and long-term temporal properties were detected, which may have been driven by specific environmental genera and taxa. Furthermore, time-decay relationships in community membership (based on unweighted UniFrac distances) and composition (based on weighted UniFrac distances) differed depending on the season and sampling location. A Bayesian source-tracking approach further supported the importance of adjacent outdoor air bacterial assemblage in sourcing the ZCB indoor bioaerosol. Despite the unique building attributes, the ZCB microbial assemblage detected and its temporal characteristics were not dissimilar to that of conventional built environments investigated previously. Future controlled experiments and microbial assemblage investigations of other ZCBs will undoubtedly uncover additional knowledge related to how airborne bacteria in green buildings may be influenced by their distinctive architectural attributes. K E Y W O R D S16S rRNA gene, bioaerosols, built environment, microbial diversity, microbiome, zero carbon building | INTRODUCTIONThe built environment (BE) is the predominant habitat for modern individuals.1 The BE also houses diverse communities of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. Thus, indoor occupants are constantly exposed to this indoor microbial assemblage (also known as the indoor microbiome). The importance of understanding the microbial assemblage of the BE is multifold, as it (i) enables a greater insight into the potential influence of building designs on shaping microbial communities, 2-4 (ii) allows the assessment of potential health impacts of the baseline BE microbial assemblage, and the detection of opportunistic pathogens within the BE, 5,6 and (iii) permits in-depth investigation on how occupants affect the microbiomes of their predominant indoor spaces. 7-9With recent advances in culture-independent, high-throughput sequencing technology, the scientific community is more knowledgeable on the microbiome of the BE, and how building and occupant attributes shape the BE microbiome. [2][3][4]8,10,11 It is now known that the breadth of microbial diversity in indoor air is much greater than previously appreciated. [2][3][4][6][7][8][12][13][14][15][16][17] In addition, these important works have provided novel ways in reinforcing the notion that indoor bioaerosols can be influenced by temporal factors, as well as geography, temperature, humidity, airflow rates, occupancy, outdoor environment, ventilation strategy, room ...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Airborne bacterial assemblage in a zero carbon building: A case study

Leung

Tong

Tong³

et al. 2017

Indoor Air

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“…While the tenants of public rental housing estates represent almost 28% of Hong Kong population, their behavior might have a substantial impact on energy use, especially when the building services equipment is controlled manually. Reducing material use as well as specifying the use of localized materials, recycled materials, and/or alternative low carbon material are the options available for implementation during the design stage for reducing the embodied carbon of buildings [79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comprehensive Evaluation of Carbon Emissions for the Development of High-Rise Residential Building

Yim¹,

Hossain

et al. 2018

Buildings

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Despite the fact that many novel initiatives have been put forward to reduce the carbon emissions of buildings, there is still a lack of comprehensive investigation in analyzing a buildings’ life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially in high-density cities. In addition, no studies have made attempt to evaluate GHG emissions by considering the whole life cycle of buildings in Hong Kong. Knowledge of localized emission at different stages is critical, as the emission varies greatly in different regions. Without a reliable emission level of buildings, it is difficult to determine which aspects can reduce the life cycle GHG emissions. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the life cycle GHG emissions of buildings by considering “cradle-to-grave” system boundary, with a case-specific high-rise residential housing block as a representative public housing development in Hong Kong. The results demonstrated that the life cycle GHG emission of the case residential building was 4980 kg CO2e/m2. The analysis showed that the majority (over 86%) of the emission resulted from the use phase of the building including renovation. The results and analysis presented in this study can help the relevant parties in designing low carbon and sustainable residential development in the future.

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“…They were set up for research purposes, and many of their designs can be adopted in other buildings to help decrease carbon footprints. For example, one of the successful cases is the Construction Industry Council (CIC) Zero-Carbon Building, a net-zero-carbon building intended for the hot and humid environment of subtropical Hong Kong [14]. In terms of design, one of the key considerations adopted in this case was the ability to respond to climate.…”

Section: Approaches Common Characteristics and Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Zero: A Review on Strategies in Achieving Net-Zero-Energy and Net-Zero-Carbon Buildings

Lou,

Hsieh

2024

Sustainability

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The establishment of net-zero-energy and net-zero-carbon buildings can offer significant opportunities to reduce environmental impact in the building sector. Several successful net-zero-energy buildings highlight the feasibility of reducing energy consumption via energy-efficient strategies and the use of renewable energy technologies. To comprehend the existing innovatory designs, techniques, and practices employed to achieve net-zero-energy buildings, this research aims to review the up-to-date advancements in net-zero-energy building practices. The utilization of embodied carbon assessments to achieve the net-zero status of buildings is explored. The findings indicate an escalating global interest and participation in the field of study, and reveal three major areas related to net-zero-energy buildings: multidisciplinary approaches, energy systems, and guidance, which together cover thirteen subfields. The role of life cycle assessment in buildings is emphasized, offering insights into the role of embodied emissions relative to operational emissions over the entire life cycle of a building. In the end, possible future study directions are outlined, including balancing energy efficiency with sustainability, and assessing the impact of design on emissions and economic outcomes. These areas collectively contribute to transforming sustainable building concepts into reality.

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Design and commission a zero-carbon building for hot and humid climate

Cited by 22 publications

References 3 publications

Airborne bacterial assemblage in a zero carbon building: A case study

Airborne bacterial assemblage in a zero carbon building: A case study

Comprehensive Evaluation of Carbon Emissions for the Development of High-Rise Residential Building

Towards Zero: A Review on Strategies in Achieving Net-Zero-Energy and Net-Zero-Carbon Buildings

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