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(2020)ThesisResidential buildings with single-sided ventilated (SSV) facade require greater energy consumption of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to achieve a comfortable indoor environment and to maintain the health and productivity of the occupants. SSV facade has been reported to increase the likelihood of a poor indoor environment and high energy consumption. Hence, optimizing SSV facade design to create an energy-efficient and comfortable indoor environment is a challenging task. Existing studies have employed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to analyze natural ventilation of buildings with SSV facade or passive design strategies to reduce energy consumption. However, most existing studies have focused on addressing individual performance issues of SSV facade such as natural ventilation or energy consumption. There has been a lack of dealing with the integrated performance of SSV facade especially the integrated optimal performance across ventilation efficiency, energy efficiency and visual comfort. There has been also a lack of understanding which design variables and relationships may drive optimal performance of SSV facade design. This research aims to fill the research gap by developing an innovative self-adaptive evolutionary model to optimize SSV facade design, targeted at the integrated optimal performance across ventilation efficiency, energy efficiency and visual comfort. The model includes a self-adaptation and learning mechanism which integrates unsupervised machine learning with evolutionary algorithms. The self-adaptation and learning mechanism has the ability to discover emergent patterns named evolved genes which represent key design variables and relationships that lead to high-performance of ventilation efficiency, energy efficiency and visual comfort of SSV facade design. The discovered key design variables and relationships are then evolved from simple to complex in the self-adaptive evolutionary process until a set of optimal SSV facade design is obtained. The utility of the self-adaptive evolutionary model is demonstrated using multi-story residential buildings with SSV facade in Sydney. A set of optimal SSV facade design is obtained in the prototype implementation, which shows on average 20% improvement in ventilation efficiency, 40% energy saving on heating and cooling loads and improvement in daylight visual comfort compared to the baseline performance of a building with SSV facade v design. The evolved genes in different complexities are discovered and evolved over time, demonstrating the dynamic mapping between key SSV facade design variables and high-performance outcomes of ventilation efficiency, energy efficiency and visual comfort. The analysis results also prove the effectiveness of the self-adaptation and learning mechanism, which accelerates the process to enable high-performance of SSV facade design to be achieved at earlier generations and increases the integrated optimal performance of SSV facade design by 6 - 8% compared to a conventional evolutionary process. This research develops an innovative interdisciplinary approach which is built upon artificial intelligence, facade optimization and building sustainability to tackling the challenge faced in SSV facade design. Research outcomes will advance the interdisciplinary knowledge of utilizing artificial intelligence technologies to improve the indoor environment and reduce energy consumption of SSV facade design.
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(2021)ThesisWithin the planning profession, the public interest is enshrined as a core rationale for practice even as academic literature continues to question the existence and function of this rationale. Concrete outcomes of the public interest are rarely considered in planning structures and processes, resulting in the perception that the term is a tangential, or lip-service, consideration within the profession. A lack of explicit acknowledgement can be contrasted with consideration of the concept of ‘civicness’ – arguably a more tangible indicator of public interest concerns within the profession. This research focuses on how the planning system approaches ‘civicness’, exploring how this can be read discursively as representative of a contextualised public interest. Drawing on the paradigmatic framework of Habermas and Foucault, both utopian and cynical representations of the public interest are challenged. Discourse analysis techniques, particularly a dialectic Critical Discourse Analysis framework, are used to critically explore key civic concepts as they relate to planning, considering broader contextual themes and rendering conceptions of ‘the public interest’ as legible and interpretable. Australian urban civic conceptions are explored, with the city of Newcastle (New South Wales) as context owing to its scale and history within the state, its contemporary reinvention following decades of ‘Steel City’ neglect and economic malaise, and its unmistakable manifestations of ‘civicness’ in institutions, processes and designed/material outcomes. Applying the Critical Discourse Analysis framework to three case studies – Newcastle City Council, the preparation of the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Plan 2036, and Newcastle’s ‘Civic Precinct’ – the research is then utilised to explore a specific representation of action toward and manifestations of ‘civicness’. This in turn contributes to the legibility of public interest manifestations in differing scales of planning practice and within broader, more theoretical, paradigms. While more exploratory than definitive, this thesis proposes that considering ‘civicness’ within the urban environment is a means by which to contextualise and ground the public interest within planning, ensuring this key professional and theoretical rationale retains its relevance and richness in an increasingly complex and challenging planning environment.
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(2020)ThesisAgainst a global backdrop of growing concerns on housing crises, Chinese megacities have earned unwelcome distinction as among the world’s least affordable housing markets. Spatial planning, as a supply-side institutional component of housing systems, has formed a prime focus of contestation on factors influencing housing outcomes, especially in Anglosphere nations. Rarely, however, have such debates been conducted regarding housing markets in China. Crucially, while spatial planning in some advanced economies has weathered trenchant criticism informed by a neo-liberal mentality, planning in China is prioritised by local governments as a vital tool of pro-growth governance. Focusing on Shanghai, as representative of Chinese megacities, this thesis explores how a pro-growth planning regime has contributed to housing outcomes in this urban context. It is guided by three questions: How has developable land supply affected housing affordability? How are residential property values influenced by local plans? How has the planning regime contributed to housing outcomes for low-income groups? To address them, both qualitative and quantitative techniques are employed. Research findings confirm that planning policy contributes to sub-optimal housing system performance. Specifically, while serving state interests and fulfilling diverse policy aspirations, restrictive land release stimulates market speculation; amenity distribution and zoning regulations reinforce metropolitan mono-centricity and house price dynamics which induce socio-spatial sifting of low-income groups into the least favourable locations. Moreover, the inadequate arrangement of public housing for hukou populations and rising clearance of informal housing accommodating non-local hukou populations undermine their wellbeing. As a governmental toolset mainly acting to promote state accumulation and authority, Shanghai’s pro-growth planning regime accords little priority to the social needs of low-income populations. In cities like Shanghai, resulting housing outcomes are compounding inequality, damaging socio-political stability and impairing urban productivity. The planning paradigm calls for a transition from state-interests-driven to social-needs-driven approaches for equitably distributed prosperity, social cohesion and wellbeing. Albeit that public landownership and a positive planning regime could contribute to these objectives, achievement of such a transition calls for strong political willpower.
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(2021)ThesisUrban heat effect is a serious environmental issue impacting many big cities around the world. One of the main factors contributing to the urban overheating are highly absorptive construction materials such as asphalt and concrete. The literature shows that the existing urban mitigation techniques including greeneries, water-based technologies, and available heat-rejecting materials are not capable of addressing the future urban overheating intensity, and therefore, it is essential to develop more efficient urban mitigation technologies with higher cooling potential. In addition, some cities have harsh climate conditions in both summer and winter, and as a result, adaptive technologies such as temperature-sensitive/thermochromic coating materials for reducing the energy needs during the whole year should be developed. In this context, nano-scale fluorescent materials (quantum dots (QDs)) as novel heat-rejecting materials for mitigation of the urban overheating are developed and their cooling potential for the urban heat mitigation is estimated in this research. The developed QDs-based coatings have two main characteristics making them ideal heat-rejecting material for the urban heat mitigation application. The two major features of QDs include: 1. Tuneable fluorescent properties due to quantum confinement effect at nanoscale, 2. High transmission of QDs as semiconductors at wavelengths longer than their absorption edge band. In this research, for the very first time, a novel mathematical model for the optimization of the fluorescent cooling and calculation of non-radiative losses is developed. The most effective methods for enhancing the fluorescent cooling potential were then proposed according to the fluorescent cooling model estimations. This research reports some experimental work on reducing the thermal loss in QDs-based films. In addition to that, a novel bilayer supercool material composed of a fluorescent material and a near-infrared (NIR)-reflective material was proposed. The bilayer fluorescent-NIR-reflective materials works based on the high transmission of the QDs as top layer and high reflection of the NIR-reflective material at wavelengths longer than the absorption edge of the QDs material. As for the climates with extreme weather conditions during winter and summer, the recent developments on dye-based temperature-sensitive/thermochromic materials for building application were reviewed. The main issue for their real application was discussed, and alternative thermochromic technologies for the building application were identified. In particular, the temperature-sensitive properties of QDs-based coatings were described in detail. An extended version of the fluorescent cooling algorithm was developed to study the cooling and heating performance of temperature-sensitive fluorescent materials during hot and cold seasons.
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(2020)ThesisAs a country that embraces multiple cultures, Australia attracts thousands of migrants every year. China is the second-largest immigrant sourcing country to Australia. With a large number of working-age immigrants moving to Australia, a critical question is raised: where will the parents of these immigrants live when their parents retire? Existing studies on elderly location choices primarily focused on inter-state migration or internal mobility within states or cities. However, different from internal migration, transnational migration usually involves a significant lifestyle change as to how they perceive risk or benefit in a destination country and mediate their place attachment in the origin country. This study investigates the immigration intentions/decisions of older Chinese by examining how their children in Australia perceived a family reunion with their parents in Australia. A random sampling survey was conducted among first-generation Chinese immigrants living in Sydney. Opinions and information about their parents’ immigration intentions/decisions, future living arrangement, and the intergenerational transfer pattern were collected. A multinomial logistic model was developed to find out the determinants. This was followed by interviews with these Chinese families to further explore influential elements. The result identified that demographics of the adult children have a significant impact on elderly parents’ immigration intentions/decisions. Elderly parents’ health status, personality and lifestyle preference are also vital. Despite personal attributes, the relationship between two generations, intergenerational transfer (especially financial transfer from parents to adult children), and family structure all intervene this immigration intentions/decisions. Mothers and fathers are found to be impacted by different elements. For example, mothers care more about their children’s marital status while fathers are more concerned about the children’s career. As for living arrangement, a large proportion of adult children believe that their parents will live independently when retire which is re-interpreting the practice of filial piety to more emphasis on spiritual factors. Policy and planning implications were discussed including varied migration policies and associated welfare plan, multi-language services and community services.
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(2020)ThesisThe building envelope, the interface between indoor and outdoor, plays a major role in influencing the impact of outdoor climate and controlling the indoor thermal conditions; hence, maintaining the health and productivity of building occupants. The building envelope also significantly influences indoor heating and cooling loads and therefore building energy consumption. Both electric power and useful thermal energy can be obtained from building-integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV/T), which have the potential to reduce energy consumption of buildings. Double-skin façades (DSF) are well-adopted for enhancing energy efficiency and improving indoor thermal comfort. Thus, this study investigates the overall performance of a combination of BIPV/T and DSF using simulation analysis, hence identifying the optimal design solution, which was embodied in numerical assessment of indoor thermal comfort and energy consumption for a commercial building. In the study, different BIPV materials (amorphous silicon PV, dye-sensitized solar cell and Perovskite-based solar cells) were considered as the exterior cladding of an office building. The performance assessment involved three climates in Australia – from hot humid to cool temperate – represented by the cities of Darwin, Sydney and Canberra respectively. The air cavity of the BIPV/T-DSF was alternatively assessed in non-ventilated, naturally-ventilated and mechanically-ventilated modes of operation, while a sensitivity analysis determined the most influential design parameters to be optimised. The study found that the perovskite-based solar cells was the optimal configuration achieving ideal performance on indoor thermal comfort and energy saving. In Darwin, the optimal design solution was naturally-ventilated BIPV/T-DSF facing 50° north-by-west for all year round, with the use of thermal transmittance of the DSF’s internal window (Uin) of 3.1 W/m2.K and solar heat gain coefficient of the DSF’s external window (SHGCout) of 0.44. In Sydney and Canberra, DSF facing due north was the optimal direction for the both locations, while non-ventilated and naturally-ventilated modes being utilised during the cold and warm periods, respectively. Moreover, for Sydney and Canberra the optimal values of Uout (thermal transmittance of the DSF’s external window) and SHGCout were 3 W/m2.K and 0.44 respectively, while the optimal Uin was 5.16 W/m2.K and 1.4 W/m2.K respectively for Sydney and Canberra.
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(2021)ThesisThis thesis is concerned with the role of the community in the conservation of its cultural heritage. In the current pro-developer climate, built heritage in New South Wales is under constant threat, coupled with significantly reduced heritage conservation funding across all tiers of government. A broadened understanding of who heritage belongs to, and who should be involved in decision-making processes, has resulted in efforts by powerholders to develop policies that emphasise the importance of community participation. The aim of this research is to investigate the authenticity of those participation efforts and the actual power of the community to influence the outcomes of the decision-making process. This research centres around three case studies: Strickland House, Carrathool Bridge and the Sirius Apartment building, each a site owned by the New South Wales State Government that included a significant level of community consultation as part of determining their fate. The thesis draws on both oral testimony and primary documents to investigate the authenticity of the consultation processes, alongside the seminal 1969 work of Sherry Arnstein and later interpretations of her Ladder of Citizen Participation. Where communities have then taken on the role of activists to protect their heritage, the tactics and strategies they employed to enact change will be examined in conjunction with models for nonviolent confrontation, including community organiser Bill Moyer’s Movement Action Plan. The case studies indicate that often there is no real power for negotiation and no assurance that the public’s concerns and ideas will be considered. There appears to be a gap between the written strategies and statements of government heritage departments and agencies, and the reality of implementation and genuine collaboration. The actual role of the community often amounts to little more than government rhetoric. By utilising classic social activism tactics to protect sites of cultural significance, local communities can gain the power to influence the protection and management of their heritage denied to them by the powerholders.
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(2021)ThesisTwentieth-century Australia saw a multiplicity of expressions of modernity and fashionability in interior design, yet narrowly defined historical views of the aesthetics of the modern interior have left the majority of practices during the post-war boom undocumented. The study investigates the work of Noel Coulson and Decor Associates, two Australian interior designers working in the post-war period. This thesis, drawing on the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and developing concepts derived from British design historian Penny Sparke, analyses these practices and six client case studies through its two key themes of hybridity and modern not modernist. The two designers, it is argued, are exemplars of hybrid practitioners who acted as both producers and mediators. The client case studies expand the theme of modern not modernist – interiors whose modernity is defined by lifestyle and expression of identity. This thesis concludes that recognition of the role of the client is fundamental to exposing the hybridity of the designers’ practices and the diversity of the aesthetics of the modern interior. The findings support the validity of the two concepts in understanding the significance of previously overlooked design styles, contesting their historical relegation and re-evaluating their capacity for expansion of the historical field. This thesis proposes that the two key themes offer a new framework to re-examine the work of interior designers currently omitted from design history.
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(2020)ThesisCurrent facilities management practice is characterised by adversarial relations and poor interactions between facility managers and users, which negatively impact the post-occupancy evaluation (POE) process for capturing user feedback and improving facilities performance. Only few studies that focus on improving the collaboration between facility managers and users in the evaluation of higher education facilities. In order to fill in this research gap, this research has investigated three major aspects of the facility manager-user collaborative relationship: feedback channels, facility management (FM) response dimensions, and collaboration determinants, and their impacts on user collaboration tendency in POE. Two educational buildings were selected for case studies in this research, one in Australia and the other in Nigeria. Online questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted in both cases. The collected quantitative data were analysed using a range of statistical methods and the qualitative data were analysed using thematic and content analyses. The findings of the two case studies were compared, interpreted and integrated. The research results confirmed that the level of collaboration in FM practice is low in the POE of higher education facilities. This research also pointed out that feedback channel, determinants of collaboration, and FM response dimensions are significant predictors of user collaboration tendency. Mobile application was also identified as an essential feedback channel, and a POE mobile application tool was developed and evaluated. It shows that there is a significant positive relationship between the tool’s learnability, understandability, effectiveness, and efficiency and its ability to improve user collaboration tendency. Based on the research findings and Activity Theory, an integrated collaborative FM framework for POE was proposed and discussed. The original contributions of this research to knowledge of FM include advancement of POE literacy, facilitation of continuous collection of real-time POE data, enabling capturing user-centred information, evaluation of individual educational spaces, and the management and generation of FM analytics. Practical recommendations such as provision of effective feedback mechanism, clearly defined policy guidelines, and training and development were proposed to promote FM-user collaborative relationships. This research leads to more consistent, continuous and efficient POE process to inform existing and future design of higher education facilities.
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(2021)ThesisExtreme heat due to climate change, heatwaves and the urban heat island effect amplify urban heat-health risks. Addressing urban heat is now an adaptive policy priority for global and Australian cities. The microclimates of pedestrians are influenced by the design of buildings which are the basic units of urban climate. For architects to adopt building climatology principles they require predictive information about the microclimate effects of building design at spatial scales relevant to their decision-making. Despite recent advances in urban heat mitigation technologies significant knowledge gaps remain in the climatology of facades . This research aims to addresses this shortcoming by assessing the effect of facade design on facade surface temperature and outdoor microclimate. Ground-based high-resolution thermal and multi-spectral image data were combined with short-term near-facade micrometeorological measurements to investigate the relationships between facade brightness surface temperature, near-facade mean radiant temperature and the sub-facet-, facet- and canyon-scale surface properties of forty multi-storey urban building facades in Greater Sydney. Key outcomes include the development of a methodology for in-situ thermal, spectral reflectance and facade and canyon surface property data acquisition, processing and analyses and the specification of statistical models to predict facade brightness surface temperature. The spatial effects statistical analysis quantified the individual contributions of sub-facet-scale material and geometric properties to intra-facade surface temperature variability. The multilevel statistical model quantified the relative contributions of near-facade micrometeorological quantities, canyon and solar geometry and facade surface properties to inter-facade variability of facade surface temperature. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the research methodology, provide facade design principles to mitigate near-facade pedestrian thermal exposure and illustrate the utility of the predictive statistical models for the assessment of potential facade design modifications on facade surface temperature at spatial scales relevant to the architect s decision-making. The methods, routines and results advance the application of climate sensitive building design through the integration of quantitative and visual communication amenable to architects.
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