ECONOMIC IMPACT OF NEW GREEN BUILDING CODE ON RESIDENTIAL PROJECT DEVELOPMENT FROM ENERGY CONSUMPTION PERSPECTIVES7

The new Green Building Code impacts the design and construction of building systems,which are vital for energy consumption estimation,especially since electricity prices are of great interest to today’s consumers.Through the integration of energy consumption and utility bills,this paper presents the results of the economic impacts of installing various energy efficient systems required by the Green Building Code.Energy consumption prediction models are developed using multiple regression statistical methods based on electricity data collected from 110 single-family houses located in Los Angeles,California,USA.These prediction models have found a significant difference in electricity consumption of a single-family house prior to the introduction of the code and after its introduction.In addition,life cycle cost analysis on two of the featured systems,photovoltaic system and hybrid water heater,discovered that consumers can pay off their up-front investments in state-of-the-art energy efficient systems and appliances and earn a profit within the stated life cycle time period.The findings provide useful guidelines for making initial monetary decisions in the residential building industry。

GREEN BUILDING STRATEGIES FOR LEED CERTIFIED RECREATIONAL FACILITIES

Student recreational facilities at higher education institutions are increasingly utilizing green building strategies to decrease their impact on the campus environment and to increase economic and social impacts on the community.Through nearly two decades of LEED building development,comparative studies of LEED strategies among buildings are not rare,but still in demand due to the lessons learned from other LEED certified buildings.This paper presents case studies on the green building strategies utilized for six student recreational facilities certified by the U.S.Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system and examines favorable strategies that lead to the success of obtaining higher rating levels.The comparative analysis results showed that the energy and atmosphere and indoor environmental quality categories that utilized energy performance optimization and innovative architectural designs for better daylights and views were major components for higher rating levels apart from conventional design criteria such as location,climate,and density.The recreational facilities having higher ratings were more favorable in obtaining credits using central plants,stormwater design,innovative wastewater technologies,and light control.The findings not only provide specific green buildings strategies for student recreational facilities,but they also enhance the green initiatives for future education facilities on university campuses.

An optimization model for synchronous road geometric and pavement enhancements

A synchronous optimization model for rehabilitation of existing two-way two-lane(TWTL)highways is proposed in this paper considering geometric modification and existing pavement rehabilitation. The rehabilitation process of existing roadways is categorized into geometric design modifications and pavement repairs. These two types of modification apply separately in roadway life-cycle because of the difference in nature of these repairs, which impose an extra cost and time of closure to road users and owners. This paper aims to address the modification of existing highways by a new approach linking the existing pavement condition and geometric configuration changes of the developed roadway to provide the optimum vertical alignment. The proposed procedure depends on various parameters of existing pavement condition, cross-section configuration, traffic volume and composition, and current alignment composure. In the first step, all these dependencies are explained and quantified with separate cost models. For each solution,the overall cost is calculated with a life-cycle cost analysis approach. Finally, a particle swarm optimization(PSO) based model is developed to find the optimum solution. The developed model was applied in two case studies with good and adverse geometric conditions. The results show that there is a critical condition in the roadway segments which have all these conditions:(1) the grade is more than three percent,(2) the grade is following with reverse grade, and(3) decommissioning of the asphalt concrete(or extended to lower layers) exist. The optimum solution in these critical conditions suggests the modification of the geometric configuration before the pavement rehabilitation in order to reduce the overall cost. In the absence of these conditions, the optimum alignment is more analogous with the existing alignment of the highway.