| Author: | Zhang, Kaixuan Vicky |
| Title: | Sustainable buildings, energy efficiency and climate change : an investigation of financial & non-financial benefits from energy efficiency of sustainable buildings contribution factors to mitigate climate change : a survey in Shenzhen |
| Degree: | M.Sc. |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Subject: | Sustainable buildings. Building -- Cost effectiveness. Buildings -- Environmental aspects. Climatic changes -- Prevention. Construction industry -- Finance. Sustainable construction. Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Building and Real Estate |
| Pages: | ix, 119 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Climate change is becoming the more and more preeminent social, economic and environmental issue in contemporary society. And it may bring lots of negative impacts like global warming, sea rising, extreme weather and so on. There are two cause of climate change: nature and human activities. While we may not be able to do with nature, we could effectively manage human activities to mitigate climate change. Amongst thousands of various human activities, activities in building section are contributing 40 percent of energy consumption and one third of green house gas (GHG) emissions all over the world. So it is a huge potential opportunity to take measures to reduce the energy use and carbon emission in building sectors. And the best measure is energy efficiency of sustainable buildings. However, there's a false view that sustainable building costs significantly more than normal buildings. On the contrary, sustainability is the only way of conducting any businesses, now and in the future. There remains a payoff to building owners from more efficient management including facilities, operations and within firms through energy efficiency. Technology solutions and management capabilities have continued to advance, and so is it in this context of a changing world that a research into the financial benefit from greener buildings for owners and tenants, especially for developing country, typically like China. A survey and analysis of operating costs, energy impacts, productivity and tenant attitudes from a major real estate portfolio was conducted in this particular survey in Shenzhen. The results provided are based on a survey of 12 sustainable buildings and over 400 tenants who have moved into these buildings which are under managed as green properties. Results suggest that that many tenants concerned a lot about sustainable operations practices and policies. And some showed their views of higher productivity and less sick time. It was also noted that the average wages of employees in firms occupying sustainable buildings are higher than average. Analysis was conducted also on scientific reasons why healthier buildings with better air quality would result in less sick time from previous studies. And natural light is also correlated with positive feelings about work and productivity. The results observed higher occupancy rates and higher rents for future space in sustainable buildings, even though most tenants did not admit to being willing to pay more. Sustainable buildings typically use less electricity or energy and water, but other expense items may run more. Because sustainable buildings are more intensively managed that they can make savings on energy and water, therefore making the overall operating expenses are similar with non-sustainable buildings. When the building owners and the tenants are gaining or enjoying the financial benefits brought by energy efficiency of sustainable building, they may not be aware that these projects are as well as making tremendous contribution of mitigation of climate change all over the world. We humans should pay more attention on this part to take more actions to make the building around us greener and our life more green based on sustainable development. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
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| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b24629637.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 2.38 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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