CB - Candidacy

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Decarbonising Urban Development

Methodologies, Designs and Urban Policy Implications

Summary of Proposed Research Program

17 November 2009

Colin Beattie

Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute

Faculty of Humanities


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Decarbonising Urban Development Page 2


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1 AbstractClimate change is one of the greatest, enduring challenges that we face as a nation and as an

international community; the words of the Prime Minister of Australia when announcing the

introduction of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) in December last year (Rudd 2008).

The link between green house gas (GHG) emissions and climate change, though still debated in somequarters, is generally accepted.

The built environment contributes significantly to GHG emissions however the measuring of

emissions beyond individual buildings has yet to be done.

This thesis will explore existing, in-progress and new projects, determining a framework relevant to

urban development projects and using appropriate carbon accounting methods. The framework will

then be used to examine three examples of actual developments in Perth as they are specified, and

then review the designs within the context of the framework and the original design briefs, to

maximise their decarbonising potential.

The results will then be analysed to determine the possible barriers, including cost effectiveness and

regulatory issues.

2 ObjectivesThis thesis will design a carbon framework that will allow urban development to be assessed and

rated from Business As Usual (BAU) models to a completely carbon free model.

This will be done by:-

1 Reviewing current best practices in urban developments using a consistent carbonaccounting framework;

2 Developing a new carbon accounting framework to include all carbon producing aspects ofurban development by identifying recurring themes;

3 Applying a temporal model to set clear boundaries within which the GHG emissions will bemeasured;

4 Apply the carbon accounting framework to a range of Business As Usual (BAU) modeldevelopments in Perth;

5 Provide working examples of how designs could be enhanced to maximise the reduction ofcarbon emissions using our industry partner projects as examples, while staying within the

realms of the original client brief; and

6 Identify the barriers, cost effectiveness and other policy issues surrounding theimplementation of a Decarbonised Model for urban development.

3 BackgroundThe term carbon neutral and all the derivatives associated with GHG emissions, has been created

in response to the subject of climate change a field that clearly falls within the discipline of

sustainability science (Kajikawa 2008). According to William C. Clark, Associate Editor of the

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), sustainability science has emerged as a

vibrant field of research in the last two decades. He states that it is defined by the problems itaddresses rather than by the disciplines it employs. (2007), and refers directly to the diversity of

bases pursuing sustainability research. Climate change and the production of GHG emissions, to be

more specific, are clearly the problem at the heart of this thesis proposal.


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The Kyoto Protocol has established at an international level, the green house gases that need to be

targeted and those countries that have ratified the treaty have committed to introduce national

legislation to meet their agreed targets in terms of reducing GHG emissions. This has led to the

establishment of an International accounting method for measuring GHG emissions. At present, the

method covers organisations, facilities and products when emissions cross pre-defined thresholds. A

model clearly covering construction projects is not documented, however a starting point would beto consider a development a product.

This thesis will form part of the CUSP ARC Linkage Project on Decarbonising Cities and Regions. The

project will support up to 5 Ph.D. theses covering a range of urban and regional development

models. The primary focus of this thesis is on Carbon Neutral Urban Redevelopments and will focus

on three examples in partnership with developers. Other theses will focus on regional issues (mining

and indigenous settlements), on different urban examples which are much more substantial projects

(e.g. North Port Quay) and on the global processes that can be established from carbon trading

based on settlement design.

3.1 Literature ReviewThe terms carbon neutral, carbon free and zero carbon plus many more carbon associated

descriptors appear in the media all the time, often in many different contexts and without

clarification of their meaning. Focussing on the built environment, in global terms, it would appear

that the United Kingdom has taken the lead through a commitment to making all new housing zero

carbon by 2016 and all new buildings zero carbon by 2019. However, the definition of zero carbon is

that, over a year, the net carbon emissions from all energy use in the home would be zero

(Department for Communities and Local Government 2007). Clearly this is a very limiting perspective

of what could be achieved should the whole lifecycle of a building be considered. The London Energy

Partnership has an almost identical definition for carbon neutral, and goes further by defining a Low

Carbon Development, as being one that achieves a reduction in net carbon emissions of 50% or

more from energy use on site, on an annual basis. (Centre for Sustainable Energy & London

Borough of Merton Planning Department 2006).

Searches on carbon neutral and carbon free show rapidly increasing documentation of new

projects claiming carbon neutral status, but against peer reviewed journals the literature is still in its

infancy. The discussion is dominated by two areas:-

3.1.1 A Social, Behavioural PerspectiveFirstly, the transition to carbon neutral communities from a social, behavioural perspective

(Moloney, Horne & Fien 2009; Newton 2007), and the view that the key challenge for societies... is

to encourage a transition in attitude and behaviour among the population from viewing the planet

as a magic pudding which is able to endlessly supply wants and needs, to adopting lifestyles that

are less materialistic and consumptive (Newton 2007).

3.1.2 A Technical PerspectiveSecondly, the technical aspects needed to create carbon neutral developments and time frames

required to do it (the research undertaken in this thesis will fall into this category). Newton discusses

the timeframe within which innovations in planning and urban development occur as the three

horizons of planning (Newton 2007), a concept that originated in business management. The

premise is that for an enterprise to be sustainable, it must have a stream of new products, ideas

and processes capable of being substituted when existing ones begin to show signs of failure

(Newton 2007). The time frame for the three horizons spans a period of twenty years.

When outside influences such as changes in building legislation are introduced then the possibility of

compressing this timeframe may exist. For example, the response to legislative drivers towardscarbon zero in the UK has been to redirect the discussion (Osmani & O'Reilly 2009; Sodagar &

Fieldson 2008) to achieving better low carbon outcomes, by highlighting the barriers that need


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addressing. Centralised, fossil fuel derived energy is actively being superseded by distributed highly

efficient or renewable energy sources, particularly in Greater London.

Beyond these two areas of social and technological, the discussion tends to fragment further, into

specialised sub-fields for example, water, waste management and transport fuel is addressed from

a sustainable or low carbon perspective. No examples were found to integrate all aspects of

decarbonisation.

3.2 Worlds Best PracticesLazarus describes BedZED, a mixed-use development in South London as carbon-neutral design

because it meets all its energy demands from renewable, carbon-neutral resources (Lazarus 2003).

An interesting acknowledgment relates to emissions embodied in the building materials. In the UK,

embodied emissions (particular to housing) account for 2 to 3 percent of the total carbon emissions

in the UK. In comparison, the emissions generated through domestic energy consumption is 29

percent. On this basis, the BedZED approach is to focus primarily on carbon emissions associated

with energy consumption, though it does recognise embodied emissions in materials.

Masdar City in Abu Dhabi stakes a claim as being the worlds first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city(The Masdar Initiative 2009). Without a clear definition of what this means from the Masdar

Initiative, Sam Nader, Director of Masdar's Carbon Management Unit, describes a number of

fundamental elements including being Completely powered by renewable energy (Nader 2009).

More interesting is the concept of dealing with waste where, Through a combination of careful

control of materials brought onto the site and intensive recycling and waste-to-energy technologies,

Masdar City will aim for net zero waste (2009). Another significant innovation is the personal rapid

transport system, consisting of some two thousand vehicles and 83 stations that will move people

around the city. There will be no conventional cars of any sort within the city. There are plenty of

examples of developments at various scales across Europe and in the USA where the use of

automobiles is discouraged (Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay; Vauban, Germany etc.) however

this would appear to be one of the few, if not the only scheme to remove cars entirely. Clearly, thistakes the level of carbon neutrality to a significantly higher plane than currently aspired to

elsewhere in the world.

Dongtan is a new city near Shanghai which is planned to be a showcase for an array of ecologically

sustainable technologies. As well as the usual focus on power and zero-emission vehicles, an

important focus of innovation is in water usage. By harvesting rainwater, recycling sewage and other

waste it is claimed by the designers to consume 43 percent less water than a conventional city. This

is significant from a carbon perspective because of the power consumption and embodied emissions

associated with managing water. It would appear from what has been covered in the media, that the

project has stalled and although a number of high-rise apartment buildings have been completed

and marketed as green buildings, they are using few of the innovative ideas that were part of theoriginal Dongtan design.

These real and proposed examples show that even though there are basic themes that can be

applied to areas responsible for GHG emissions, there is a varied approach to the weighting placed

upon each of these areas. The driving force behind these choices is unclear. There is an opportunity

at this juncture to add to the dialogue, research that will draw together a number of discussions

adding a holistic approach to the existing body of knowledge, based on real world examples.

4 SignificanceBy providing a framework designed for Urban Development rather than individual green buildings,

this study will provide a clearer picture of how the built environment including infrastructure,


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currently effects climate change (through measurement of GHG emissions). Furthermore it seeks to

identify where the most effective changes could be made in reducing GHG emissions and thus

enable a truer perspective on what is carbon neutral urban development. The framework will be

robust and meaningful within a global perspective.

Actual development projects in Perth will be utilised to demonstrate the authenticity of

implementing decarbonising strategies. This will provide an indication of best practice in the urban

design process, the likely cost impact and the barriers, difficulties and solutions that occur.

The research will model a carbon framework and show that there is potential for well considered,

carefully specified and sensitively designed projects to be included in national and local approaches

to decarbonising strategies; complementary measures to the primary instrument of the proposed

emissions trading scheme (the CPRS). The project is of policy significance as the ARC Linkage Project

is working in partnership with the Federal Government on developing a carbon framework for urban

developments that is consistent and reliable.

The academic significance of this work is based on the paucity of published studies that demonstrate

full carbon accounting of the built environment based on actual projects and/or theoretical designs.

5 Research MethodClimate change and the effects of GHG

emissions, to be more specific, are clearly

the problem at the heart of the thesis. The

fact that there is a specific practical aim,

a problem to be addressed, classifies the

research as Applied Research as definedby the Organization for Economic

Cooperation and Development (OECD) in

the Frascati Manual (2002). This is

challenged by Clark who explains that

because sustainability science deals with

both problem-solving and curiosity-

driven aspects, it is thus most usefully

thought of as neither basic nor applied

research. Rather it is an enterprise

centered on the use-inspired basic

research that the late Donald Stokes characterised as Pasteurs Quadrant of the modern scienceand technology enterprise (Clark 2007; Stokes 1997). The research in this instance, is not

necessarily a quest for fundamental understanding as a specific objective but rather, the gaining of

new knowledge that will contribute towards action targeting urgent human needs specifically,

reducing GHG emissions. Fundamental understanding of GHG emissions and the effect on climate

change has been studied over the past two decades and is not part of the scope of this thesis. This

research can therefore be characterised as Edisons Quadrant in the context of Stokes model.

In broad terms, this research project can be divided into two sections;

Developing a new framework; and Applying a framework.

Research Considerations of use?

Inspired by...

No Yes

Quest for

fundamental

understanding?

No

Applied

Research

(Edison)

YesBasic

Research

(Bohr)

Use-inspired

Basic research

(Pasteur)

Beyond basic vs applied research:

Science in Stokes Quadrants

(Stokes in Clark 2007)


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5.1 Developing a New FrameworkThe research methods used to achieve each of the objectives of this thesis are shown in the

following table;

Objective Method

1 Reviewing current bestpractices in existing

developments using a

consistent carbon

accounting framework;

Documentary Research

This objective will be addressed via a desktop literature review of

published projects using professional and academic journals and

web sites.

In Australia, it is the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting

(NGER) Act which provides a single national reporting framework

for the reporting and dissemination of information related to GHG

emissions, GHG projects, energy consumption and energy

production of corporations (Australian Government 2008b).

The developments identified in this review will be examined by

determining how their carbon content is measured and comparingthe results used in their original calculations to the NGER Act

requirements for carbon accounting.

Refer toNote 1below

2 Developing a newcarbon accounting

framework to include

all carbon producing

aspects of urban

development, by

identifying recurringthemes;


A review of published projects is in progress, identifying what

recurring themes are used to address the carbon footprint of

existing and new developments. Each theme will need to be refined

down to a figure that represents the essence of the carbon

emissions that it is responsible for.

Where possible, existing methods of accounting can be comparedwith those provided by the NGER Act, and any differences can be

highlighted and recorded. Thus, in order to address this second

objective the Act will be reviewed and critiqued

Refer toNote 2below

3 Applying a temporalmodel to set clear

boundaries within

which the GHG

emissions will be

measured;


Sodagar (2008) suggests that the whole life carbon emissions from a

construction project should consider all of the following stages;

Project Management Carbon (PMc) Embodied Carbon (Ec) Construction Carbon (Cc) Running Carbon (Rc) Deconstruction Carbon (Dc)

The documentation required to establish the amount of GHG

emissions will vary depending on what stage of the temporal model

is being analysed;

Project Management Carbon

Consultants need to maintain clear records of project costs so that

they can calculate fees for their services. Extrapolating the man

hours of a project as a percentage of the total man hours worked inan office can be the basis of calculating the GHG emissions. This

relies on a company knowing what its carbon footprint is. The types


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of documents required are timesheets, travel logs, expenses claims,

meeting minutes, to name four.

Embodied Carbon

A method of assessing embodied carbon is by measuring quantities

of materials from all building contracts associated with the particularcase studies. Once quantities are available, a calculation of the

amount of embodied energy can be achieved and therefore the

amount of GHG emissions created in the production of the material.

The documents required will largely consist of secondary data,

created primarily for the purpose of constructing the individual

projects. Examples of data include but are not limited to drawings,

specifications and bills of quantities.

Construction Carbon

This covers carbon associated with site delivery of materials, on-site

power consumption and waste produced to name three. Buildingsites are metered so accurate data on resources consumed is

relatively easy to establish. Primary data covering delivery, in

particular distance covered and method of transport can be sourced

through contractors records, for example through logging of

delivery dockets.

Transport related GHG emissions, defined as Scope 3 emissions by

the NGER Act, need to be accounted for. Specifically sub-contractors

and trades in terms of distances travelling to site and modes of

transport.

Running CarbonThis will be the longest stage in the life cycle of a development and

will therefore have to account for the largest amount of consumed

energy during the ongoing occupation of a development. Other

significant areas to be analysed at this stage are water capture and

usage patterns, and waste management and recycling options open

to the site.

Much of this information is available from the Australian Bureau of

Statistics (ABS). The NABERS energy rating scheme also provides

means for calculations based on building occupancies, which will

provide a more accurate approach than using design occupancy

(from Building Codes Australia) because in reality, buildings rarelyachieve full occupancy.

Outside of the built environment, data covering the transport

options encouraged or accessible to the site and how they are used

will need to be included. The ABS and the Australian Bureau of

Transport and Regional Economics (BTRE) provide an array of data

covering specifics including distances travelled to place of work,

modes of transport and vehicle types, fuel consumption etc. These

can be compared with social statistics which could potentially

predict travel movements for users of a new development within

and across specific suburbs.

Deconstruction Carbon

A figure for the decommissioning and removal of a building or

buildings can be derived from the information available at the


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design stage.

Refer to Note 3 below

Table 1

Note 1

It is estimated that around 1000 organisations will have to report their emissions in 2009 (Australian

Government 2008a). The Act will be reviewed annually so the net will be cast wider as policy dictates

greater levels of responsibility within the business community.

In terms of an established research method for carbon accounting this is the obvious starting point

and is ideal from the perspective that the thesis can build on something that will be consistent

nationally, and become a source of data from an increasing number of organisations, facilities,

products and services in the future.

Note 2

By establishing a set of recurring themes that are prominent in the built environment we can create

a clear and robust model specific to urban redevelopments.

Table 2 shows five examples of urban redevelopments including redevelopments and sub-divisions

that claim, or are aiming to become carbon neutral. The table indicates what their carbon neutral

themes are, in their own particular frameworks. As there are an increasing number of developments

claiming carbon neutral status, this part of the research will need to be ongoing for the majority of

the thesis timeline in order to ensure the validity of the work on completion.

Themes for

Carbon Accounting

and/or

SustainabilityEnerg

yEfficiency

EnergyUse

Em

bodied

E

issions

Tr

ansport

Water

anagement

Waste

anage

ent

References

BedZED

London (Lazarus 2003)

Masdar City

Abu Dhabi, UAE (Nader 2009)

Lochiel Park

Adelaide (Land Management Corporation

2009)

Stirling City

Scotland (Stirling Council 2009)

Hannover Kronsberg

Germany (City of Hannover & Directorate ofEconomic and Environmental

Services 2007)

Table 2

Note 3

In order to provide a complete picture the new framework needs to include a temporal element so

that boundaries can be established defining the starting point and the completion of the

development, allowing results and conclusions to be determined. From an architectural and planning

perspective, the whole process of creating a development begins with the design concept, so the

logical place to begin tracking carbon emissions should therefore be when a project is commissioned

and the project inception begins. This immediately differs from most existing decarbonising modelswhich only consider emissions associated with the building operation (Centre for Sustainable Energy

& London Borough of Merton Planning Department 2006; Kronsberg Environmental Liason Agency

2000; Land Management Corporation 2009).


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Sodagar (2008) suggests that the whole life carbon emissions from a construction project should

consider all of the following stages;

PMcProject Management carbon; the off-site carbon cost of designing and

managing the project, for example customers, consultants, contractors

EcEmbodied carbon; the carbon input into the production and assembly

of materials and components of a project

CcConstruction Carbon; the carbon input required to deliver and

assemble line components into a building including waste

RcRunning carbon; the carbon emissions associated with running the

building over its design life, including maintenance and repair

DcDeconstruction carbon; the carbon emissions associated with the

removal of the building at the end of its working life.

Table 3 (Fieldson in Sodagar & Fieldson 2008)

These stages provide a clear picture of the model lifespan of a project which is just as valid for a

development as it is for an individual building.

Because we cannot accurately predict how a project will finally be determined, we have to assume

there will be no interventions or outside influences that would alter the outcome of the project

significantly from the original brief.

5.2 Applying a FrameworkA reference point is required for the new carbon accounting framework, a baseline that represents a

Business As Usual (BAU) approach against which projects claiming to be carbon neutral can be

gauged. This model provides a robust framework for a quantitative analysis.

The second section involves the application of the framework to the project examples provided.

Objective Method

4 Apply the carbonaccounting framework

to a range of Business

As Usual (BAU) modeldevelopments in Perth;

Case Study Method

Cedar Woods, an innovative urban development company in Perth

and an industry partner of the ARC project, and the Stirling Alliance

will be providing the three sites in metropolitan Perth of relevanceto the research project and this thesis;

Harrisdale

The first of the two projects involving Cedar Woods, Harrisdale is a

joint venture in Partnership with the Department of Housing and

Works. A fringe development South West of Perth consisting of a

new main street and 600 lots, the project is aiming to be a model in

sustainability and affordability.

Carine

The second study is an eight Hectare site at Carine, a Northernsuburb of Perth, originally constructed in the 1970s. The project was

tendered by Landcorp to the private sector for partners and was


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won by Cedar Woods, an innovative urban development company,

and St. Ives Realty, one of Western Australia's leading providers of

quality retirement villages. Taking the form of a medium density

development with a nursing home and retirement village at the

core, the development is intended to be activated by bringing the

local community on to the site.

Stirling City Centre

The third case is the redevelopment of the area surrounding Stirling

Station - Stirling was recently highlighted as a Strategic City Centre

by the State (WAPC 2009). The project is being driven by an alliance

of state and local government together with the private sector. The

Stirling Alliance was setup by Stirling Council, the Department for

Planning and Infrastructure and Main Roads WA.

It must be acknowledged that the three case studies that will be

examined are setting their sustainable/carbon neutral standardshigher than the existing statutory requirements. Consequently, they

will provide rich insight into the research objectives.

None of these cases will be completed in the timeframe of the

thesis, however it is expected that the design proposals will be

signed off. This will provide the research project a firm set of criteria

which will be considered as-built information. This will then allow

the production of a set of actual GHG (CO2-e) emissions which can be

traced back to a specific action or cause.


5 Provide workingexamples of howdesigns could be

enhanced to maximise

the reduction of carbon

emissions using our

industry partner

projects as examples,

while staying within

the realms of the

original client brief.

Documentary ResearchAt this point the thesis will remove all restrictions to the possibility

of a completely carbon free development and attempt to provide

solutions to maximise the decarbonising potential of every factor

that contributes to production of GHG emissions.

It is important to set clear boundaries that the review process of the

case studies must adhere to. There is potential to do the design

review at two levels. Firstly, maximising carbon reductions whilst

adhering to boundaries set by planning legislation and secondly, to

evaluate the review to the highest level possible beyond the

parameters set by planning and other statutory legislation. The

design input will be created purely on the basis of improving thecarbon footprint by:-

maximising the potential of GHG reduction concepts that arealready proposed in the design, where the possibility arises;

Adding GHG reduction elements to the proposal which mayhave been overlooked, where there is potential to include them

on the site;

The essence of the original design must not be altered. That is, the

overall net lettable area of the development for commercial phases,

and the total number and size of residential units should be

maintained.



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6 Identify the barriers,cost effectiveness and

other policy issues

surrounding the

implementation of a

Decarbonised Modelfor urban

development.


Existing legislation needs to be examined to see how it impacts,

either positively or negatively, on the fundamental goal of reducing

carbon. A record will be kept of policies that will require a response

at government level (local, state and federal) to resolve. The

specifics of this review will be revealed as the study unfolds, but arelikely to focus on existing local, state and federal policy.

An important outcome of the applied research will be the

documented cost of the Decarbonised model compared with the

BAU model. A cost range will be established and a set of

incremental costs will be determined that directly relate to the

incremental increase in GHG reduction measures included. A crude

example is; a development has twelve photovoltaic (PV) panels and

there is scope to increase the number to twenty four. If they are

only available in groups of four, then the cost for sixteen, twenty

and twenty four can be recorded. This will be extremely valuable in

selecting a path towards carbon neutrality that can be tailored tospecific budgets.

A number of factors play a role in establishing how much additional

build cost will be acceptable to both private developers and local

government authorities alike. The developments covered in this

thesis include both perspectives.


Table 4

Note 4

The CUSP Decarbonising Cities and Regions ARC linkage project seeks to develop a case for

decarbonising cities and regions using some extraordinary Western Australian examples. Cedar

Woods, an innovative urban development company in Perth and an industry partner of the ARC

project, and the Stirling Alliance will be providing the three sites in metropolitan Perth of relevance

to the research project and this thesis.

There are an increasing number of projects that demonstrate a more responsible attitude towards

the reduction of GHG emissions in their design which may reflect market forces, more cost-effective

and greater availability of green goods and materials, or even a moral response to the climate crisis.

What is not clear is whether the case studies are setting higher standards as a matter of course. If so,

then the question of additionality as defined by the Australian Government needs to be

addressed. If the higher standards proposed are appearing in other projects, then it could beconsidered BAU to aim for those particular higher standards. In order to avoid the confusion that

this could potentially cause, the cases will be considered as BAU models for the purposes of this

research.

Note 5

The design review will reflect additional capital costs as a matter of course however, these costs are

not to be used as feedback to the design review itself. The aim of this research is to maximise

decarbonising potential, not cost efficiency although it is recognised cost will be included in all the

analyses undertaken. This cannot be ignored if, on completion, the research is to be utilised in

industry.

Note 6

Looking beyond cost and considering value, the importance of being able to put a value on a project

needs to be acknowledged. Without the ability to determine the value, a developer cannot secure


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funding from lending institutions and the project simply will not happen. This type of valuation

exercise is beyond the scope of this research, however should the client bodies of the case studies

give permission for valuations to be made public then they will be included.

5.3 Limitations of ResearchThe themes in

Note 2indicate the complexity of the study based on the cross-disciplinary nature ofthe themes themselves. The question that needs answering in each case is What is the quantity of

GHG emissions produced by this characteristic? The difficulty of this can vary dramatically as in the

following two examples:-

Under the theme Energy Use, electricity consumption (kWh) on a tariff based on fossil fuelderived electricity can be converted to a quantity of GHG emissions (kgCO2-e) relatively easily.

Energy Efficiency is clearly a theme of carbon neutrality but does not have a distinct quantityof emissions associated with it. A conversion process needs to take place which will make it

contribute (in this case, favourably) to Energy Use. Only then can it be quantified in terms of

GHG emissions. It could also contribute to Embodied Emissions through the addition of

materials (e.g. embodied carbon (Ec) incorporated in additional insulation).

The study must therefore take each theme back to the source of the GHG emissions to be of

greatest value.

Looking at the stages of the temporal model, there are clearly going to be some limitations to the

quantity and accuracy of the data studied. For example, records of consultants attendance at site

meetings can easily be recorded inaccurately or not recorded at all. These kinds of details that are

normally set out in office or project procedures can be cross checked against meeting minutes. It is

unrealistic to expect this level of detail to be gathered accurately within the timeframe of the project

so it would be reasonable to use a sample of meeting minutes to identify trends in attendance and

hence calculate an average amount of associated GHG emissions. This is one of many examples

when trend setting will be used to determine values, where data is limited or suspected of not beingentirely accurate.

Clearly the Rc stage of the model will have to make a significant amount of assumptions. We wont

have a complete picture of all of the occupants of a development, however the design brief will have

established maximum occupancy figures based on the Building Codes, for all building uses. The

NABERS rating tool also works with similar parameters but includes factors to account for buildings

that are not fully occupied. It will therefore be possible to draw some reasonable conclusions on

occupancies and therefore GHG emissions associated with all occupancy types.

The Dc emissions that will be included will be based on the original design however; they will be

flawed from the perspective of not knowing what lies in the future of each of the developments. It is

not uncommon for buildings to be designed with a particular life expectancy in mind 30 years is a

figure that is often accepted in the architectural profession if a specific figure is not of concern to the

client. So, in 30 years time it would not be unreasonable to assume that approaches to demolition

and/or decommissioning will be very different to what they are now. We cannot ignore the carbon

impact of this stage in the development process so we will include current best practices in

decommissioning and recycling to establish our figures.

5.4 ExclusionsAt this point the emissions generated by visitors (friends, visitors, people/vehicles passing through,

etc.) will not be included. The enormous amount of time required to gather and assimilate the datamakes this difficult to include in this body of research, and the impact on the findings is likely to be

negligible.


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6 Ethical IssuesThere are no obvious ethical issues with this research. The information will be mostly available

within the public realm. Additional information will be required from consultants and otherprofessionals involved in the projects case studies but at no stage will any survey work be required.

7 Facilities & ResourcesCurtin Humanities facilities and resources, including workstation, lockable cabinet, computer,

telephone, fax and access to photocopying, stationary and library resources will be used including

those available at CUSP.

8 Data StorageFollowing University guidelines, collected data will be securely stored in a locked cabinet at the CUSP

building in Fremantle for at least five years. Only the supervisors and the author will have access.

After this time, it will be evaluated for destruction or retention.

9 TimelineDates have been omitted from this assessment as it will be subject to candidacy approval.

There may also be variations associated with the requirements of the ARC Linkage project and

required outcomes.

Stage 1 Literature Review - Ongoing through thesis Month 1 to 27

Stage 2 Development of Carbon Framework Month 1 to 9

Stage 3 Case Studies

Stage 3a Assessment against Framework Month 9 to 18

Stage 3b Design Review Month 18 to 21

Stage 3c Design Alternatives Applied Month 21 to 27

Stage 5 Evaluation of Barriers Month 28 to 30

Stage 6 Final Writing of Thesis Month 30 to 36


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10ReferencesAustralian Government 2008a, 'Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper', ed. DoC Change.

Department of Climate Change.

Australian Government 2008b, 'Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme: Australia's Low Pollution

Future', vol. 1, ed. DoC Change.

Australian Government 2008c, 'Draft National Carbon Offset Standard', ed. DoC Change.

Australian Government 2008d, 'Draft National Carbon Offset Standard: Discussion Paper', ed. DoC

Change.

Australian Government 2008e, 'National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Guidelines', ed. DoC

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