Essays on Energy Performance

Concert Hall

Walt Disney Concert Hall is not only a home for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Los Angeles, but also the pearl of this city. The building project was created and financed with the participation of wife of the world famous animator Walt Disney. The architect of Walt Disney Concert Hall was Frank Owen Gehry - one of the main ideologists of modern deconstructivism. It is worth noting that deconstruction is a style, which is characterized by a complete repudiation of the typical geometry of living space. This architectural style denies monotonous lines and boring multistory office buildings. Architects of this ...

This study provides a critical analysis on the changing notion of comfort standards in building systems through a critique of Cole, Robinson, Brown and O’Shea’s (2008) “Re-Contextualizing the Notion of Comfort”. Diverse climate conditions across several locations around the world highly characterize standards of comfort met through the construction of residential and commercial buildings, thus the understanding that people derive comfort based on the normal weather conditions in their respective locales. Various standards for buildings –where people use spaces for habitation or work, ensure comfortable living in accordance to distinct climate conditions. Climate change, in this case, ...

ISO 14001:2004

ISO 14000 is a family of standards that have been created for environmental management. Their main purpose is to define standards and requirements in order to help organizations reduce their operations, which may have negative effect on the environment. This standard notably includes ISO 14001, which represents a core set of standards to be used by organizations in designing and implementing an effective environmental management system. The current version is ISO 14001: 2004. This standard sets a criterion for environmental management system. It does not describe the requirements for environmental performances, but has developed a framework that a company or organization can follow in ...

Abstract

The number of worldwide issues concerning environmental safety and corporate social responsibility has been on an ever-increasing rate. This is why we can also see a significant growth in the demand for environment-friendly and self-sustaining buildings. The number of domestic and international organizations that monitor and facilitate the standardization by means of a tiered certification of such buildings has also been on an ever-increasing rate. The LEED certification program is one of the most prominent ones in the U.S. and the UC Davis Brewery, Winery, and Food buildings have received platinum grade certification under such program. The objective of this paper ...