Exploring synergies with innovative Green Technologies for Advanced Renovation: Redefining a Bioclimatic approach for multi residential and office buildings in warmer climates. Building energy consumption accounts for nearly 27% of all energy related greenhouse gas emissions. By 2010, emissions' from buildings is estimated to increase by 48% above 1990 levels. This projected trend is alarming given that Australia's obligation under the Kyoto Protocol is only 8% above 1990 levels. Renovation of e ....Exploring synergies with innovative Green Technologies for Advanced Renovation: Redefining a Bioclimatic approach for multi residential and office buildings in warmer climates. Building energy consumption accounts for nearly 27% of all energy related greenhouse gas emissions. By 2010, emissions' from buildings is estimated to increase by 48% above 1990 levels. This projected trend is alarming given that Australia's obligation under the Kyoto Protocol is only 8% above 1990 levels. Renovation of existing buildings is necessary to achieve this target. Research will address this problem by providing principles, strategies and solutions demostrating improvement of environmental performance and cost benefits. The application of new principles will assist with transforming the building industry to meet Kyoto targets.Read moreRead less
Towards a Quality of Life Model for Sustainable Housing in South East Queensland. Current reports, on Quality of Life in South East Queensland and the Queensland Governments State of the Environment demonstrate a paradox, - high quality of life but also increasing environmental impact. How to address this paradox is a major research question addressed in this project. Through examining examples of best practice sustainable housing it is possible to address this question. The key factors of quali ....Towards a Quality of Life Model for Sustainable Housing in South East Queensland. Current reports, on Quality of Life in South East Queensland and the Queensland Governments State of the Environment demonstrate a paradox, - high quality of life but also increasing environmental impact. How to address this paradox is a major research question addressed in this project. Through examining examples of best practice sustainable housing it is possible to address this question. The key factors of quality of life will be identified for housing, which will assist policy makers plan for a sustainable future. Read moreRead less
Risk Assessment and Mitigation of Blast Damage to Structural Systems. The cost of providing blast-resistant protective measures to potentially hundreds or thousands of existing buildings is immense and beyond the resources of government and society. The decision-making framework proposed herein provides a means to allocate funds to those buildings shown to have high risk of damage in the event of bomb blast. This will enable existing risks to be quantified and compared in a rational and consiste ....Risk Assessment and Mitigation of Blast Damage to Structural Systems. The cost of providing blast-resistant protective measures to potentially hundreds or thousands of existing buildings is immense and beyond the resources of government and society. The decision-making framework proposed herein provides a means to allocate funds to those buildings shown to have high risk of damage in the event of bomb blast. This will enable existing risks to be quantified and compared in a rational and consistent manner, thus ensuring that risk mitigation is maximised given expenditure of limited resources. Public safety will be governed by the extent and effectiveness of building protective measures. Lives will be saved, likelihood and extent of injury reduced and social and economic disruption minimised.Read moreRead less
Stochastic Modelling of Structural Facade Damage and Occupant Safety Risks Due to Explosive Blast Loading. The cost of providing blast protective measures to built infrastructure is immense and providing protective measures to potentially hundreds or thousands of existing buildings is immense and beyond the resources of government and society. The risk-based decision-making framework proposed herein allows damage and casualty risks to be quantified and compared in a rational and consistent manne ....Stochastic Modelling of Structural Facade Damage and Occupant Safety Risks Due to Explosive Blast Loading. The cost of providing blast protective measures to built infrastructure is immense and providing protective measures to potentially hundreds or thousands of existing buildings is immense and beyond the resources of government and society. The risk-based decision-making framework proposed herein allows damage and casualty risks to be quantified and compared in a rational and consistent manner, thus ensuring that risk mitigation is maximised given expenditure of limited resources. Clearly, maximising risk mitigation across a range of high risk buildings will minimise building damage, loss of life, business disruption and other economic and social impacts in the event of a severe bomb blast. Read moreRead less
Occupant comfort in naturally ventilated and mixed-mode spaces within air-conditioned offices. The Australian Greenhouse Office indicates that air conditioning is responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Australia's commercial sector. The sector's uptake of energy efficient strategies and sustainable design will depend on post-occupancy evaluated exemplars that have been demonstrated to enhance, rather than detract from, workplace amenity, worker satisfaction and prod ....Occupant comfort in naturally ventilated and mixed-mode spaces within air-conditioned offices. The Australian Greenhouse Office indicates that air conditioning is responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Australia's commercial sector. The sector's uptake of energy efficient strategies and sustainable design will depend on post-occupancy evaluated exemplars that have been demonstrated to enhance, rather than detract from, workplace amenity, worker satisfaction and productivity. Naturally ventilated spaces within air-conditioned offices can readily be designed into new buildings, and retrofitted to many existing buildings. This project will document how such spaces are used, and interpret their costs/benefits to workers, organisations and environment.
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Earthquake protection of masonry buildings using fibre reinforced polymer strengthening. The importance of this research is highlighted, both nationally and internationally, by the work of the insurance industry which reported that the economic risk posed by a moderate earthquake in any of the capital cities in Australia is of the order of billions of dollars (Blong, 1993). For example, a 'design magnitude' earthquake in Sydney is predicted to cause, just in domestic construction, over $10 bill ....Earthquake protection of masonry buildings using fibre reinforced polymer strengthening. The importance of this research is highlighted, both nationally and internationally, by the work of the insurance industry which reported that the economic risk posed by a moderate earthquake in any of the capital cities in Australia is of the order of billions of dollars (Blong, 1993). For example, a 'design magnitude' earthquake in Sydney is predicted to cause, just in domestic construction, over $10 billion damage and more than 5000 deaths. Most of this damage would be associated with unreinforced masonry construction such as low-rise apartment buildings. The damage bill for the entire built environment (with business interruption costs) could easily be an order of magnitude greater.Read moreRead less
Impact and Effectiveness of Personal Ventilation in Open Plan Offices: a study of the Task Air system. Centralised air-conditioning systems are the standard for commercial office buildings in Australia. These systems are energy intensive, typically accounting for around 50% of building energy use. However, lack of occupant control over set temperatures or air movement tends to reduce thermal comfort, which can adversely affect worker productivity. The benefit of this project is that it will qu ....Impact and Effectiveness of Personal Ventilation in Open Plan Offices: a study of the Task Air system. Centralised air-conditioning systems are the standard for commercial office buildings in Australia. These systems are energy intensive, typically accounting for around 50% of building energy use. However, lack of occupant control over set temperatures or air movement tends to reduce thermal comfort, which can adversely affect worker productivity. The benefit of this project is that it will quantify the improvements to occupant comfort and energy savings possible with a PV system. This study will enable PV systems to be evaluated as an alternative to traditional air-conditioning, thereby demonstrating their effectiveness as a means of improving the sustainability rating of commercial office buildings in Australia.Read moreRead less
Behaviour and innovative design of drive-in steel storage racks. Drive-in steel storage racks offer the most space-effective solution to storage needs. They have become increasingly sought after as population growth concentrates in the main Australian metropolitan areas, which is pushing up the cost of land and storage. However, the high failure rate of drive-in racking systems is costly to society, as they cause disruptions to our production and supply cycles, and lead to increased costs to Aus ....Behaviour and innovative design of drive-in steel storage racks. Drive-in steel storage racks offer the most space-effective solution to storage needs. They have become increasingly sought after as population growth concentrates in the main Australian metropolitan areas, which is pushing up the cost of land and storage. However, the high failure rate of drive-in racking systems is costly to society, as they cause disruptions to our production and supply cycles, and lead to increased costs to Australian industry and the consumer of the final product. There are great national benefits to be gained from developing innovative drive-in storage systems which have minimum risk of structural failure. Such systems will also enhance the international competitiveness of the Australian rack manufacturing industry.Read moreRead less
Seismic performance of concrete beam-slab-column systems constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system. When designing for earthquake induced loading it is very important to know the ductility and any other inherent deficiencies in structural systems under lateral deflections. The main purpose of this application is to investigate the seismic performance of an efficient beam-slab-column system constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system, Corcon, which is becoming popula ....Seismic performance of concrete beam-slab-column systems constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system. When designing for earthquake induced loading it is very important to know the ductility and any other inherent deficiencies in structural systems under lateral deflections. The main purpose of this application is to investigate the seismic performance of an efficient beam-slab-column system constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system, Corcon, which is becoming popular in Australia and overseas. The proposed research will ultimately lead to revised design guidelines for these systems, suitable for local and overseas practice where different levels of seismicity occur.
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Ductile FRP retrofit of concrete frames subject to static and earthquake loading. Australia needs to spend at least $500 million annually on the repair and upgrading of concrete structures alone just to maintain our existing civil infrastructure. Furthermore, it has been estimated that more than 500 deaths and $10 billion damage will be caused by a moderate earthquake in Sydney or Melbourne. Most of this damage will be due to the collapse of buildings. This research will develop a new form of ....Ductile FRP retrofit of concrete frames subject to static and earthquake loading. Australia needs to spend at least $500 million annually on the repair and upgrading of concrete structures alone just to maintain our existing civil infrastructure. Furthermore, it has been estimated that more than 500 deaths and $10 billion damage will be caused by a moderate earthquake in Sydney or Melbourne. Most of this damage will be due to the collapse of buildings. This research will develop a new form of ductile plating that will reduce the cost of retrofitting concrete bridges and buildings. This project will also help train two PhD students and one Research Associate and further enhance the existing collaboration between Australia and Italy.Read moreRead less