Office for Environmental Programs - Theses

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End date: 2009 × Subject: Built environment ×

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    The pedagogy of sustainable design: an investigation into the influence of sustainable workplaces on occupants
    Cooper, Scott ( 2007)
    This research project looked at the influence that working in a sustainable built environment has on occupants. The majority of research in this area has focused on measurable effects of improved design and theoretical studies of social impacts on occupants, with a lack of research investigating this theory on a case study basis. This research project endeavours to help fill this gap, asking how, if at all, people's beliefs, attitudes and practices are affected by their engagement with sustainable built environments. Using semi-structured interviews, participants from three study sites in Melbourne were interviewed. Participants were asked about their perceptions of their I workplace, noting discussions of topics such as behaviour change and environmental awareness. The interviews were informal, allowing participants to explore areas of the most concern to them, leading to rich descriptions of their workplaces. The findings illustrate that people are concerned about workplace design and aware of how this affects them on a daily basis. Pro-environmental behaviour change I influenced by design was seen in all three study sites, as was a desire to maintain a connection with nature through the workplace design. The findings also indicate that the sustainable design of these sites has encouraged a dialogue around environmental sustainability. The insights from this research can be used to better understand the connection people have with the built environment and potentially to improvements in workplace design, with a focus on maximising the educative potential of sustainable built environments.
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    Integrated design as a vital element in the process of progression from sustainable to regenerative design: transitioning from the mechanistic to ecological paradigm as the basis for sustainable building design
    Gadbois, Justin R. ( 2007)
    Since the Brundtland Report, there has been a significant impetus towards establishing more sustainable modes of development. The majority of these efforts have been restricted by a mechanistic world view. This world view based on reductionist science has enabled rapid progression in technology and standard of living for portions of the population. However this science is unable to deal with the complexity issues that surround sustainable development. With advances in ecological theory, systems thinking, quantum physics and complex adaptive systems, there has been the emergence of a new ecological or holistic paradigm which views the world as an interconnected whole. The sustainable building industry has evolved in conjunction with sustainable development and is currently restricted by the same mechanistic thinking. Advances in sustainable design, such as restorative and regenerative design posit a new approach to building design that embodies the ecological paradigm. Regenerative design utilises a whole-systems strategies and recognises the human-nature connection in its approach. The Integrated Design Process is an iterative design process, which enables whole-systems thinking to be employed to improve the performance and cost of current sustainable design practice. The Integrated Design Process also has the capability of incorporating progressively deeper levels of systems thinking, therefore establishing a framework for sustainable design that spans current practice to possible future regenerative design practice