Environment Problems of High-Rise Buildings

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks go out to all who have helped me complete this study and with whom this project may have not been possible. In particular, my gratitude goes out to friends, facilitator and family for extensive and helpful comments on early drafts. I am also deeply indebted to the authors who have shared my interest and preceded me. Their works provided me with a host of information to learn from and build upon, also served as examples to emulate.

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DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

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ABSTRACT

Buildings have a significant impact on the environment, but just how big have still not been researched to the fullest extent. Benchmarking existing estimates for the whole building sector is difficult because the corresponding studies are poorly documented, and use different assessment frameworks and definitions for what the building sector encompasses. There are several tools to assess the impact of single buildings, but most come short in measuring the total magnitude by disregarding some of the life-cycle phases and the impacts of the supply chains. This research to assess the environmental effects of high-rise building and the environmental consequences of decisions made over the life-cycle of the building. High-rise buildings alone represent 2% of the total U.S. energy use, while the whole building sector represents 40-50% of the same (previous estimates range from 30 to 40%). The overall impact of the building sector is also quantified for other environmental effects and global warming potential. It is estimated that close to 50% of S02 emissions and one-third of the country's GWP, and NOx and CO2 emissions come from the building sector.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Rationale1

Theoretical framework2

Research goals3

Research questions3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Energy4

Materials6

Water7

Impact of basic elements on high rise buildings7

Other environmental effects and impacts8

Ecological strategy9

Building design11

Commercial buildings11

Residential units12

Industrial buildings13

Impact of high-rise building sector13

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY16

Procedures while carrying study16

Secondary Data16

Research Design17

Types and sources of secondary data19

Reliability20

Validity21

Ethical issues23

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION24

Analysis24

Data analysis24

Magnitude of the environmental impact of high-rise buildings25

Conceptual of high-rise building27

Structural art28

Current practice of designers30

Problems with environment31

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION33

High-rise building design33

Green buildings34

Features of environmentally friendly buildings36

REFERENCES40

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION



Background

The construction industry is one of the most important industries for the world economy in general and for each country in particular. While one of the most important contributors to a region's GDP, this industry causes significant environmental pressure. The research presented in this dissertation explores ways to improve the environmental performance of this industry. Given the wide range of environmental issues related with the many different typologies of infrastructure, this research focuses specifically on the High-rise buildings sector (Gladwin, 2008).

Overall, this dissertation makes the case for the need to use performance assessment tools as a way to improve the design of these buildings, assesses existing tools ...