Trivess Moore

Dwelling performance and adaptive summer comfort in low-income Australian households

ABSTRACT Increasing reliance on air-conditioning to improve summertime comfort in dwellings results in higher energy bills, peak electricity demand and environmental issues. In pursuit of social equity, society needs to develop ways of improving cooling that are less reliant on air-conditioning. Designing homes to emphasize adaptive thermal comfort can reduce this reliance, particularly when combined with improved dwelling thermal performance. A multi-method evaluation of 10 low-income dwellings in the state of Victoria in Australia is presented, including low-energy and ‘standard-performance’ houses. The combination of performance monitoring and householder interviews reveals new insights for achieving summertime comfort. The low-energy houses without air-conditioning were both measured and perceived as more comfortable than the ‘standard-performance’ houses with air-conditioning. The low-energy households achieved improved personal thermal comfort through a combination of improved fabric performance augmented with adaptive comfort activities (e.g., opening/closing windows). This outcome reduces reliance on air-conditioning, reduces living costs and energy consumption, and improves environmental outcomes. There is a need to integrate lessons from adaptive thermal comfort theory and strategies into minimum building performance requirements and standards, as well as wider design strategies. It is evident that adaptive comfort has a role to play in a transition to a low-carbon housing future.

Urban Sustainability Transitions

The central question for this chapter is: how can urban and transitions perspectives assist understandings of low carbon housing and urban change? Current ‘urban’ and ‘transitions’ perspectives are presented along with recent and current attempts to bring urban and spatial perspectives to transitions studies. Australia as a site for urban transitions studies is considered, and three aspects of low carbon housing and urban change are highlighted: policy settings and governance, spatial/urban dimensions and carbon and consumption context. Contributions of urban and transitions perspectives to understanding low carbon housing and urban change are explored through two case examples of low carbon housing and urban change in Australia: photovoltaic panels on domestic rooftops and broader retrofitting and renovation activity towards low carbon housing. Transitions perspectives include the multilevel perspective and Transition Management. While these vary, the focus here is that they can each provide useful insights when coupled with other perspectives of urban and social change. Power, space and consumption all feature in practices of urban low carbon transitions, and it is essential that further analytical tools are brought to bear in these domains. They offer a scale for the study of cultural projects where change is as likely to be associated with cultural or social change as by policy settings.

Utilising Mixed Methods Research to Inform Low-carbon Social Housing Performance Policy

Abstract There is an over reliance on cost-benefit analysis in the policy development and evaluation of sustainable housing outcomes. This paper presents both qualitative and quantitative analyses from a multi-year mixed methods evaluation of four new low-carbon social houses in regional Victoria, Australia. Through a cost-benefit lens the housing was not financially viable. Householder interviews highlighted positive social outcomes such as improved health. A narrow focus by housing performance policy makers on cost-benefit analysis results in important understandings about housing and householders being overlooked or undervalued; inclusion of multiple evaluation methods can help to reflect a more realistic sustainable housing future.

Cost efficient low-emission housing: implications for household cash-flows in Melbourne

A number of international jurisdictions have articulated a longer term goal of zero emission housing standards. However, in Australia, housing energy efficiency remains a contested policy area. In part, this is due to a lack of clear cost-benefit information on low emission housing standards, including impacts at the household level. This research investigated the lifetime economics of low emission housing options for typical housing in Melbourne, Australia. The analysis found that for a zero emission house, there was an additional capital cost of

Aligning goals for sustainable outcomes: Case study of a university building in Australia

25,637. This translated into extra yearly mortgage repayments of

What gives to keep that price point? High-density residential developments

2,117 at an interest rate of 7.89% across 25 years. However, energy efficiency cost savings of

University Buildings: The Push and Pull for Sustainability

1,547 a year were calculated, leaving a gap of

The Built Environment and Energy Efficiency in Australia: Current State of Play and Where to Next

570/year in additional mortgage repayments. As a result, policy makers in Australia should focus on reducing upfront costs and developing innovative financial frameworks in order to make low emission housing achievable.

An End-User-Focused Building Energy Audit: A High-Density Multi-residential Development in Melbourne, Australia

The importance of universities goes beyond teaching and undertaking research. Universities can shape cities due to the significant number of buildings they occupy, large amounts of resources they consume and the high number of staff and students attending them. With many universities teaching subjects relating to sustainable planning, design, management, cities and society, they present an opportunity to lead by example and act as urban learning labs for a transition to a low carbon future. This chapter presents analysis from a post-occupancy evaluation of a Green Star rated university building in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to the analysis of building performance data, interviews were undertaken with key stakeholders involved across the design, construction and occupation of the building. A Building User Satisfaction survey was also undertaken for occupants. The analysis identified a number of key successes as well as a number of challenges. Learnings from the research are applicable not just to academic institutions but to the wider built environment industry in shaping the sustainability of the built environment.

Cohesion: Our Environment—Building Better and Smarter

High-density living is now widely accepted in the built environment. At the apartment entry price-point, space and place appear to be the key considerations, with limited attention to a building’s social, physical and environmental features. To examine this, the researchers interviewed leading Melbourne property developers and consultants to identify the challenges of incorporating innovation relative to governance, design, and construction and building operations into the competitive high-density property development market. Responses demonstrate that post-occupancy analysis can be a tool to better inform property stakeholders. When presented to prospective purchasers, this information could shift the key consideration from an entry price point to the features of a well-designed apartment and so redirect the current ‘minimalist’ approach adopted by some new property development entrants to improving occupier living experience and ongoing maintenance costs.