Assignments

1. Introduction

This course has two types of assessment, which are collectively worth 60% of your final marks, these include:

1. Longer project based assignments 
2. Shorter homework exercises

Both types of assessment are compulsory for this course and are an essential component of learning at level 7.  The assignments are worth 20% each and comprise of two projects.  Assignment 1 involves the creation of an assessment of environmental effects for a theoretical civil engineering development in a local location.  Assignment 2 involves data collection and the creation of a sustainable housing design.  The following pages provide more detail on each topic.

2. Homework

There are two homework exercises for this course and each is worth 10% of the total course marks.  Details of each exercise are provided in the following sub-chapters.

2.1. Homework 1

Homework – Sustainable Materials

This is an individual assignment. You will be required to research and summarise sustainable building practice information about ONE country, including current legislation, building practice and construction materials used. You will be asked to discuss any legislation/guidelines or standards used and their impact on improving building practice. Your final output will be a written report.

Choose a city from your native country (or one that you are familiar with), if you are from NZ, please consider an alternative from the list provided below:

China, UK, India, Australia, USA, South Africa, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France, Russia Singapore.

For the city you have chosen:

1.       Prepare a short descriptive paragraph about your chosen city (this must NOT be cut and paste from Wikipedia). Each paragraph should include details such as location, climate, population size, topography and main industry etc.

2.     Discuss how houses are built focusing on typical materials used, and whether these materials are sustainable? (for example, are the materials produced locally or transported from overseas; do they recycle their building products).

3.     Investigate if there are any existing guidelines/standards (government/non-government or both?) on how to build a sustainable building for this location. If so, what is the guideline focus (e.g. greenhouse emissions, sustainable materials, human health).  Summarise any the legislation, guidance and standards by providing the following detail:

·       Whether from government or non-government agency

·       When were these standards/guidelines created and when was the most recent version produced?

·       Is this compulsory legislation/standards or just guidelines?

·       Is there anything being done to encourage people to follow it?

·       Is there any information available about the number of buildings currently using this guidance? (this will be easy to find for LEED, NZGBC etc. but trickier for government organisations).

4.     In your opinion, are the houses adequate for the climate and geographic conditions of the city or country?

5.     Using the diagram provided as an example (Fig 1), create your own diagram to summarise how well these buildings follow sustainable strategies in your chosen country.

Figure 1: Demonstrating sustainability in buildings

Your feedback should be in the form of a short, written report (submitted to Turnitin)- no longer than 6 pages in length (including reference list for websites and relevant articles used)

2.2. Homework 2

Assessment of Environmental Effects - Case Studies

Your homework task is to investigate a case study of an AEE to achieve the following criteria:

1. Summarise the main issues; you may like to consider them in the same order as the course to help with structure, e.g. Intro (set scene), land, water, flora and fauna, people and infrastructure and traffic.
2. Describe how the effects have been minimised or mitigated
3. Discuss the potential benefits of this scheme (how has this been made attractive to the council?)
4. What was the final decision ? Were any conditions applied ?

Your feedback should be in the form of an oral presentation - 8 mins max. (there will be a penalty for anything over 8 mins) with references (APA style)

Please select from either one of the following topics or one of your own::

• The creation or upgrade of a bridge
• The creation of a tunnel (not Waterview)
• A new road or a road extension
• A subdivision or small housing estate
•  A new wharf or wharf extension
• A multi-storey building or car-park
• Port development or harbour upgrade

Presentations MUST be emailed to me before or on date of presentation.  Due 10th May (in class).  Marking schedule is attached here.

3. Assignments

There are two assignments for this course as detailed in the following chapters.  Each assignment is worth 20% of your total marks.

3.1. Project 1 - Sustainable design

There are two stages to this project for which both must be completed to achieve full marks.  The first stage involves data collection which includes a waste audit and regular monitoring of water and energy usage and transportation mileage.  There is also a comprehensive environmental assessment of your current accommodation.   The second stage involves a proposed upgrade of your current property to a more sustainable home.

Stage 1

For the duration of this course, you will be required to carry out an audit of the energy, water and waste at your house.  For the waste audit, you will be provided with a number of containers in which to separate and weigh your waste  In addition, you will need to produce an audit of your transportation.

 Energy Audit

1. Do you have any alternative energy (Inc Solar, microhydro etc.)? If so determine how much energy is produced via these processes.
2. Using a spreadsheet format, collect weekly electrical energy usage data for your accommodation.
3. If you use any solid fuel, record your daily usage (approximate mass).
4. If you have gas on your property, make a record of your annual consumption

 Water Audit

1. Do you have any water harvesting or water recycling at your property? If so determine how much water is produced via these processes.
2. Using a spreadsheet format, collect weekly water usage data for your accommodation.

Waste Audit

1. Using a set of bins, separate your waste into plastic recyclables, glass, metal, paper and card waste, non-recyclable waste and food waste. 
2. Make a note of the weekly mass of each of the waste.
3. Using a spreadsheet, create a waste audit for your property.

Transport Audit

1. To produce a better assessment of your green footprint, keep a daily log of your journeys.  Note the type of transportation and distance you travel each time and also note whether you are travelling singularly or as a group.
2. If you travel by car, try to estimate the fuel economy of this transportation.

This information will be used to complete your second project (which is worth 20% of the marks for this course).  For this reason it is extremely important that you carry out this task diligently and thoroughly.

3.2. Project 1 - Stage 2

Analysis

The next step in this project is to assess the environmental impact of your house and transport situation.  You may use any on-line assessment tool - those currently available include the following:

• Homestar Excel spreadsheet link
• BRANZ (Http://alf.branz.co.nz)
• LEED assessment guide link

You may also like to consider your water/energy use compared to an Auckland or New Zealand average (details available on the internet).

Also you need to produce a scale floor layout of your house and a description of the following points:

• Energy sources.e,g electricity, gas, solid fuel, solar etc.  Please provide a definition for "energy usage".
• Orientation of the house (mark North on the map)
• Location of the key living areas (and indicate which direction they face if not clear)
• Thermal mass details e.g. wall and ceiling construction including insulation (type and location). Please provide definitions for "thermal conductivity" and "thermal resistivity".

Low budget and unlimited budget retrofits

Finally - the up-grade.  You will be required to provide two options for the upgrade of your current living environment.  The first upgrade involves a low budget retrofit (maximum cost $2000) which must be justified in terms of benefit.  Costs must assessed and be realistic; therefore you should provide trade literature to support any estimates.  

The second upgrade is an unlimited budget upgrade in which you must choose and justify improvements to minimise the environmental impact of your house.  Your submission should include a concept plan (which is a basic floor plan with descriptions).

Please do not to forget to include discussion on the key challenges to any retrofit/changes.  For example, adding insulation may not be possible for all types of wall without a considerable reduction in room size or adding a photovoltaic panel to the roof may not be feasible on a particular roof type or orientation.

A list of helpful sites is provided below and will be added to during the course so check regularly.

For information on energy try the following site:

1. Passiv house, New Zealand. http://www.phinz.org.nz/

Due Date: 5th April

3.3. Marking Schedule - Sus. design

Project 2 will be marked holistically as a project but the sections will be assessed as follows:

3.4. Project 2 - AEE

This is a project involving the creation of a AEE for a theoretical development in the local area.  Some possible options available are:

• Restoration of the Orakei basin
• Extension of the Takapuna wharf
• Creation of a bridge from Paremoremo to Greenhithe
• The creation of an extra lane for highway 16 at Te Atatu
• An alternative ferry service from Te Atatu to Westhaven
• Installation of a bike/pedestrian bridge alongside Pakuranga Highway
• The creation of a cycleway along the SW highway (20) to connect with Woodward Rd
• Development of a 3-storey high rise building in Pt Chevalier

The outputs include a written report detailing the likely impacts of the civil work and with suggestions for mitigation as directed by learning in the first part of the course.  An oral component is also required in the form of a 10 minute feedback presentation.  This project is worth 20% of the total mark.

PLEASE SEE INDIVIDUAL HANDOUTS FOR FULL DETAILS (to be distributed in week beginning 8th May).

Due Date 7th June

3.5. Marking Schedule - AEE

Project 1 will be marked holistically as a project but the sections will be assessed as follows: