University Buildings: The Push and Pull for Sustainability

Francis, Matthew; Moore, Trivess

doi:10.1007/978-981-10-7880-4_9

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Given these concerns, there are calls for “whole-of-university” approaches to improve campus sustainability engagement and governance (Hancock and Nuttman, 2014; Mcmillin and Dyball, 2009; Zinn and Isenmann, 2017) “towards the common goal of sustainable development” (Niedlich, 2020, p. 1816). Many elements contribute to this holistic approach, including compulsory and voluntary reporting, sustainability plans, environmental policy [1], faculty and student programs and built environment design guidelines and outcomes (Francis and Moore, 2019). These formalise this governance architecture, which is managed and implemented by sustainability officers and managers.…”

Section: Introduction: the State Of Sustainability Reporting And Planning In The Higher Education Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Campus sustainability in the Australian higher education sector: divergence and convergence in planning, reporting and tactics

Melles

Lodewyckx

Hariharan

2021

IJSHE

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Purpose This study provides a country-specific and sector-wide study of campus sustainability. Campus sustainability is a key consideration for the higher education (HEI) sector, and campus sustainability officers and managers manage its reporting and planning. Global and country-specific studies to date have focussed on individual organisation narratives, interviews with faculty and management and content analysis of reports and plans. Findings show wide divergence on scope and scale of formalised planning and reporting, few references to sustainability officers and managers’ perspectives and limited reference to organisational theory to explain tactics and strategies adopted. As a result, there are a few country-specific and sector-wide studies. The purpose of this paper is to address the scarcity of country-specific and sector-wide studies into campus sustainability practices in HEI by combining qualitative and quantitative analysis. Design/methodology/approach The authors provide the first sector-wide overview of formal campus sustainability commitments for the Australian public sector HEI (n = 41) in terms of several key indicators – plans, reports and other indicators. Second, the authors use reflexive thematic analysis of interviews (n = 21) with current and former sustainability officers and managers to examine sector organisational reasons for such variation. Third, the authors analyse HEI sector isomorphism and divergence on planning and reporting of campus sustainability from the perspective of institutional theory of organisations. Findings This study finds some convergence on the need for plans, reporting and other engagement elements, albeit without any sector-wide standards being followed. The authors observe a trend towards carbon-neutral (CN) declarations before 2030 although with nuances on emissions scope and increasing inclusion of renewable energy. Interviews identify a range of strategies and tactics adopted for campus sustainability relative to internal and external organisational pressures. Overall, the sector still exhibits weak institutionalisation of sustainability. Research limitations/implications This study interviews a specific and limited cohort (n = 21) and presents an overview of sector reporting, planning and target setting although not a detailed content analysis. Other interview cohorts may have different views on the strategic and tactical purposes of reporting practices, and more in-depth analysis of formal plans and reports should be conducted in the future. Practical implications This study concludes that the Australian HEI sector should consider greater public transparency of its data and reporting actions. Common standards and a benchmarking platform for the sector would improve overall engagement with all internal and external stakeholders. At present, the HEI sector’s message to its key internal and external stakeholders is mixed and needs to change towards a more in-depth institutionalisation of sustainability on campus. Originality/value Particular insights are the value of organisational strategies and tactics as an interpretive framework for HEI campus sustainability and how interviewees attribute sector competitors and self-different motives and tactics. Albeit limited, this is the first mapping of sector approaches to sustainability reporting and planning.

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Section: Introduction: the State Of Sustainability Reporting And Planning In The Higher Education Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Campus sustainability in the Australian higher education sector: divergence and convergence in planning, reporting and tactics

Melles

Lodewyckx

Hariharan

2021

IJSHE

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“…Universities are centres of learning and research. The new knowledge and application of the knowledge that emanates from the universities contribute significantly to the sustainable development of human habitations (Francis and Moore, 2019). While being centres of knowledge creation, universities have an additional responsibility to lead through practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, being sub-sets of cities, universities can lead efforts towards sustainability through research and applied action. Therefore, it is argued that universities should contribute to the sustainability of the built environment through experimentation, application and practice Influence of environment on building design 507 (Cortese, 2003;Francis and Moore, 2019;Lozano et al, 2015;Shawe et al, 2019) and set examples by becoming beneficial influencers within cities (Beck et al, 2011;Filho et al, 2019). Universities are undertaking several initiatives to make their campuses sustainable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of building and indoor environmental parameters on designing energy-efficient buildings

Eromobor

Das

Emuze

2020

IJBPA

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PurposeArguments for the design of sustainable university buildings have emerged in South Africa. Energy being a major determinant of the sustainability of buildings, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of various building and indoor environmental parameters on the energy performance of university buildings in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey research method, administered within the context of university buildings in South Africa, was used. Data about 16 buildings from three universities were collected. Relevant, inferential statistical analyses were conducted to examine the relative influence of the building parameters on the energy consumed in the buildings. Also, regression models within building parameters were developed independently and in a combination that could be used to estimate energy consumption in the university buildings.FindingsFindings suggested that building and indoor environmental parameters of humidity, indoor temperature, volume, illumination, and window width ratio (WWR), in that order, influenced energy consumption significantly, and also, had direct empirical relationships.Practical implicationsOptimising the building and indoor environmental parameters in design will enhance energy-efficiency in university buildings in South Africa.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature in terms of understanding the order of influence of building parameters on energy consumption in university buildings in the temperate climatic zone of South Africa. It also established empirical models between building and indoor environmental parameters and energy consumption, both independently and in combination, that could assist in designing energy-efficient and sustainable university buildings.

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“…Globally, an increasing number of universities are developing strategies to transition to a more sustainable future by engaging with sustainability across their organisations: from teaching through to asset delivery and management (Alborz and Berardi, 2015;Escobedo et al, 2014;Francis and Moore, 2018;Koester et al, 2006). This helps to improve environmental performance and reduce costs for wasteful resources, but is also framed by a recognition of their roles in a global push towards reducing environmental impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This means that universities find ways to ride through the ups and downs of changes to student enrolments and the ongoing changes to the way that teaching, learning and research is conducted (e.g. shifting to more online delivery) (Francis and Moore, 2018). It is clear that the three elements: teaching and learning, and research are inter-related and will all need to be considered by universities as the move towards a low-carbon future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflections of a green university building: from design to occupation

Moore

Iyer‐Raniga

2019

Self Cite

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present outcomes from a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of a sustainable university building development. Design/methodology/approach A POE was conducted for a sustainable university building in Melbourne, Australia. The method included interviews with key stakeholders involved in the design, construction and occupation of the building. The interviews were complemented by conducting a Builder User Satisfaction survey and analysis of two year’s worth of building performance data. Findings While technically the building saw a significant improvement in performance in comparison to existing buildings at the university, it ultimately did not meet its design performance goals as determined by the design rating. The interviews revealed limited formal documenting of lessons learnt and the challenges associated with using a sustainable and innovative building to drive cultural change. A major success was the realisation by the university of the benefits that the systematic POE provided. Lessons are now being applied to other new and refurbished buildings on campus, with POE now an integrated part of these processes. Originality/value While there are some studies of sustainable university operations and buildings, many focus on one or two parts of the process and fail to include evaluation of the full sustainability approach to check if stated goals have been met. This paper begins to address this gap. Learnings from the research are applicable to the wider building development industry and demonstrate the important role universities can play in shaping the sustainability of urban environments.

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University Buildings: The Push and Pull for Sustainability

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

Campus sustainability in the Australian higher education sector: divergence and convergence in planning, reporting and tactics

Campus sustainability in the Australian higher education sector: divergence and convergence in planning, reporting and tactics

Influence of building and indoor environmental parameters on designing energy-efficient buildings

Reflections of a green university building: from design to occupation

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