‘Lighting’ is good lighting when it provides adequate illuminance to enable a task to be performed efficiently, is perceived as comfortable, and people have a high level of satisfaction.  Good lighting design is not simply about achieving a required ...

A summary update has been provided for this note in June 2023. This summary reflects updates to this topic on the National Construction Code 2022 and BASIX. This Note provides an introductory review of the energy use and climate and resource impacts ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in November 2018. The adaptive model of thermal comfort shifts attention from engineered comfort solutions to architectural ones. As the concept of adaptive comfort displaces the old static model, ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency by the authors in September 2018. This note is directed to one major aspect of the comfort of building occupants – namely, thermal comfort. Even though it may be difficult to isolate thermal ...

Sustainability imperatives are starting to drive business decisions and government policies. As solutions are sought to developing environmental assessments, it is important to know how much energy, water or chemical has gone into manufacturing a ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency of underlying principles in August 2018.  The disassembly of buildings to recover materials and components for future reuse is not widely practiced in the modern construction industry. This note ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in August 2018.  This note provides a background introduction to the lost art of designing for natural ventilation, and discusses some of the more useful rules of thumb. It considers the principal ...

Circulating fans are defined as a class of axial propeller fans, generally without an enclosing housing, and used for circulating air in a space. The energy-efficiency of circulating fans tends to increase with their size and reduction in their ...

Innovation in ventilation systems is becoming an increasingly popular and targeted topic of architectural discourse. Architects, consultants and contractors are introducing new products and proposing new systems, subject to client requests for an ...

Wood products are a staple of the construction sector, and are important in delivering environmentally preferable projects. However the sustainability of many wood products remains difficult to assess.  This note overviews key issues and considers ...