A DEMONSTRATION BUILDING PROJECT: PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY VALUES

Author:

Bahho Mazin,Vale Brenda

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the relevance of the demonstration project as a strategy for inspiring contemporary building practice in a process towards sustainable building and as a tool for influencing environmental values in the community. The Log Cabin Project in Napier, New Zealand, is a demonstration facility for displaying sustainable building and living practices situated on the campus of the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT). The project is the refurbishment of an existing structure designed to showcase the sustainable use of material resources, energy and water conservation, and waste-water management. The aim was to investigate the effect visiting a demonstration sustainable building might have on people’s knowledge of and attitude towards sustainability issues, and more specifically whether the methods for making a building more sustainable displayed in the building affected how people thought about their own living environments. In February 2016, five visitor groups, three of EIT students not previously connected with the project, one of EIT staff, and a local environment group were invited to view the project and surveys were conducted both before and after the visit with 126 participants completing both pre- and post-surveys. The research found improved scores after the visit in six of the seven survey measures of environmental knowledge, motives, and intentions, especially in the case of student visitor groups. The results also indicated promising increases in environmental values and concerns for environmental quality after the visit. Correlation between gender and sustainable action was not significant, however there was significant correlation between age and actions intended in the future where engagement was higher among young participant groups. Moreover, although many visitors had previously engaged with at least one pro-environmental activity before visiting the project (90%), 42% made at least one change as a result of the visit. These findings suggest the project was a catalyst for behaviour change. Discussions are centred on the usefulness of demonstration sustainable buildings as tools for fostering environmental protection practices.

Publisher

College Publishing

Subject

General Environmental Science,Geography, Planning and Development,Civil and Structural Engineering,Building and Construction,Architecture,Environmental Engineering,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Nature and Landscape Conservation,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Reference49 articles.

1. Dimensionality of the new ecological paradigm: Issues of factor structure and measurement;Amburgey,;Environment and Behavior,2012

2. Buildings that teach: Developing sustainable building design criteria;Bahho,;The International Journal of Sustainability in Economic, Social and Cultural Context,2018

3. Bahho, M. ( 2018). A demonstration sustainable building: a tool for investigating environmental values. PhD thesis.Wellington: University of Victoria in Wellington.

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3