Researches

Although architects, landscape designers and building engineers have been designing and building green roofs in Dhaka, Bangladesh, there is a dearth of evidence based research regarding the best practices of setting design parameters, available solution types and performance. Based on the descriptive survey method, this study identifies three basic types of green roofs. The common construction and use related design parameters used by the local practitioners were identified. The three types of green roofs are compared on the basis of their performance against these design parameters. It was concluded that further research, proper policies and research based development in the practice is necessary to materialize the true potential of green roofs and roof top gardening in Dhaka which will address the UN sustainable development goals.

As a result of the depletion of natural resources, destruction of green areas, loss of ecosystem and consequent shrinkage of habitable areas, the concept of “sustainability” has become an important parameter at all stages in architectural discipline as in all fields. However, in some cases this notion has started to transform into an advertising tool developed to feed consumption due to its structure being open to interpretation, its current value and its lack of adequate supervision. Sustainability has three aspects that are economic, social and physical. Apart from the successful architectural designs that take all the values of sustainability into account, the concept has also been used as a popular culture item that enables the projects to come forward and be preferred by people. In this study, the phenomenon of “greenwashing” was examined and five architectural projects from Turkey with the claim of sustainability were evaluated within the criteria of three sustainability scopes.

This paper discusses the needs of capacity building for energy efficient buildings in China and explains the potential of using the World Wide Web for improving the education and information programmes. A Web-based information system has been developed at The University of Hong Kong for the dissemination and promotion of energy efficient technologies. The Web materials from the system have also been used to create a learning environment for supporting university education and professional training and for promoting informal learning and self-study of the subject. It is believed that the Web-based approach can be promoted in China to enhance the capacity-building activities. Courses and training programmes are now being developed for promoting energy efficiency and sustainable architecture.