Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications

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    The lIfe cycle performance of Monomur in Australian residential construction
    Simcock, N ; Crawford, RH ; Jensen, CA (Green Building Council Spain, 2014)
    Brick veneer is the most dominant construction type in Australia; however it is not necessarily the most advantageous for the climate. Mass wall types, where massing is evident on the interior of the building, can help to achieve greater thermal performance. Monomur thermal blocks are a thermal mass system, based on single leaf construction. They are resistant to compression, transfer of heat, and are made from natural clay. Monomur has shown to benefit construction in Europe, most predominantly France, where the push for low energy buildings is high on the national agenda. This study aimed to determine the life cycle energy performance of the use of the monomur system in Australian residential construction. A life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) was used to quantify and compare the life cycle energy performance of two case study houses, one built from monomur and one from brick veneer. It was shown that there is minimal difference in the performance of these two construction approaches, paving the way for the potential use of monomur in the Australian context.
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    Template schools: Measuring indoor environmental quality
    Crawford, RH ; Jensen, CA ; Chan, TK ; Hes, D ; Aye, L (The University of Sydney, 2011)
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    More than a survey: An interdisciplinary post-occupancy tracking of BER schools
    Newton, C ; Wilks, S ; Hes, D ; Aibinu, A ; Crawford, R ; Goodwin, K ; Jensen, C ; Chambers, D ; Chan, T ; Aye, L (Taylor & Francis, 2012)
    In February 2009, the Australian Government announced the $16.2b Building the Education Revolution (BER) as part of an economic stimulus package. In the context of a global financial crisis, the Government called for ‘shovel ready’ projects requiring state education departments to develop template designs to speed the delivery process. Three years later, new facilities have been completed in over 1100 government schools in Victoria (DEECD, 2012). This article outlines research by an interdisciplinary team to track the early occupation of a template design used inVictoria. The design template was unusual: it enabled schools to continue using traditional classroom teaching or to slide open walls to form larger neighbourhoods suitable for team teaching. Our research linked different methodological frameworks to undertake post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of the new spaces. POE strategies are often driven by construction and project management perspectives rather than focus on organizational issues and user behaviour.